


Sand Makes the Colors Brighter

by Yellowtaffeta



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Dragon riders of Pern meets one piece meets dune meets firefly concept, Ensemble Cast, Hongjoong centric, Jongho is THICK and Hongjoong likes it, M/M, Pirate king AU, Slow Burn, Wooyoung says pass the sauce, but really ot8, everyone’s got their own storylines goin I promise, guys wearing dresses cause it’s hot, no beta we die like apples in Jongho’s hands, no really 110° is hot, someone save Mingi he’s too good for this sinful earth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:41:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25417117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yellowtaffeta/pseuds/Yellowtaffeta
Summary: Water is scarce, crime is rampant and the government isn't doin a thing about it.  No better time then the present to be a pirate with big dreams.  Hongjoong's got swag, a pretty little consort, a badass flying ship and he's gonna be the king of them all.  The next person who tries to tell him the city of Horizon marks the edge of the world is gonna get a boot to the teeth.  Cause he knows better than any of them what's out there past the end of the sky.  He's seen it and he's survived.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Everyone, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, multiple pairings on the side, probably some Woosan eventually
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. The Dark Heart of a Star

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I know I should be updating TJA but here I am doing this instead. RIP my life choices ^_^  
> As always, please bear with me, my update schedule is gonna be pretty shaky.

“Useless waste of water, I don’t play at nothin, I AM the Pirate King!” 

There’s a loud bang and a flash of light as the gun goes off and all four limbs of his client flail as if their strings have been cut before the man’s body slumps to the ground.Seonghwa watches dispassionately, wondering if this means he won’t be getting paid.After agreeing to help Hongjoong he wasn’t really expecting it but still.

Distantly he feels something hot and wet drip down his cheek.Blood, he thinks.And really it’s such a waste exposing the liquid to the barren air where it will evaporate and disappear forever. 

Before him, the man, his CAPTAIN Seonghwa corrects himself a little hysterically, holsters the gun in his waistband and pushes a hand through the sweaty locks of overgrown hair on the back of his neck. A lithe pink tongue pokes out of his mouth, running along his teeth, catching on the edge of one sharp canine as his lips curl back in a lazy smile.Seonghwa can’t help but watch, transfixed.He imagines that mouth redder, stained with the wasted liquid flowing from the victim’s body like the many desperate people he’s seen on the streets who have resorted to blood sucking to quench their thirst. 

“Here is your notebook.”He says offering the beaten leather-bound log-book out to Hongjoong.Mercifully this distracts his captain from whatever he was thinking of doing with the dead body on the ground and Seonghwa feels the tension in his shoulders ease. 

That is of course until Hongjoong’s attention turns to him instead. 

“Thank you!”He bounces the short distance to where Seonghwa is standing, eyes crinkled up in a beaming smile.“Oh my gosh I thought I would never see you again!”He squeals taking the book from Seonghwa’s hands and cuddling it close to his chest.“All that work…!”Hongjoong’s forearm comes up to cover his eyes and Seonghwa clears his throat, looking away awkwardly.Because the Hongjoong who has just killed a man in cold blood sounds like he’s about to cry.Over a notebook.Who wastes water on a notebook? 

“Seriously, thank you.”He looks back because Hongjoong sounds more composed now but it’s a mistake.The short boy is looking up at him through his lashes, his lower lip sucked back between his teeth, those absurdly sharp canines digging into the plush skin of his mouth.And where is all of Seonghwa’s trained first rank consort charm now?He doesn’t know.Lady Miyeon would feel ashamed for sponsoring him if she could see this. 

“Let’s just get out of here.”He sighs smoothing his hands down the white silk of his robes and secures his hair back under his head scarf.Thank the lake of salt that there’s no blood on his clothes because the color would be VERY eye catching. 

Hongjoong does not pull his ugly black hat back on but cocks his head at Seonghwa quizzically.“Don’t you need to get paid?”He asks and Seonghwa tries to smile though it feels pained. 

“Hongjoong—“ 

“Captain,”Hongjoong corrects him pointedly and oh, Seonghwa is going to have to get used to these abrupt switches between adorable and dangerous.It’s not good for his heart. 

“Captain,”He tries again, proud that he doesn’t stutter on the word.“you have just killed the man that was going to pay me.”He says with the gentlest tone he can manage.“We should go.” 

“But he owes you.”Hongjoong’s brows wrinkle unhappily.“I’m sure he’s got something on him that you could take to make up for it.”He nudges the body with the toe of his boot, rocking it from side to side where it lays on the ground. 

Seonghwa takes a very controlled breath.“Captain you may be a pirate but I am not.I am a first rate consort sanctioned by the government.I do not steal.” 

He leaves out that if he is caught with anything of the glass merchant’s belongings on him after the man is known to have been murdered he will be striped of his rank, his hand and surely his life as well. 

Hongjoong just shrugs.“Guess whatever I find is mine then.”He grins, lids low and Seonghwa looks away as his captain begins pawing through the man’s billowing sleeves, tongue stuck between his teeth. 

It feels like an eternity later when Hongjoong straightens with a happy chuckle and where are this man’s guards anyway?Hongjoong didn’t kill them too did he?He can’t have, there was no time.

“Got it.”Hongjoong laughs flashing a small black sphere at Seonghwa before making it disappear like magic.At the sight of the little bubble Seonghwa’s heart jumps in his chest and for a moment he’s got his hands moving, reaching out to take it.But no.No one little water capsule will be enough.Not to save him.He is resigned to his fate he reminds himself sternly.

Hands clenched at his sides to abort their motion Seonghwa desperately wants to role his eyes.How cocky was his client?Stealing from a pirate like Hongjoong, not employing NEARLY enough guards AND keeping an entire water capsule on his person while alone with a stranger? 

“Can we go now?”He asks instead, raising his eyebrow pointedly but Hongjoong is looking at him funny now, his cheeks all slack and mouth soft.Seonghwa wonders what the captain sees.

“Yeah just lemme get that for you…”He trails off licking his thumb and before Seonghwa can figure out what he’s doing rubs his saliva slick finger along Seonghwa’s cheek.“You got a little somthin here.”He says just as Seonghwa feels the blood he’d forgotten about flake from his skin.“Wouldn’t wanna get it on your pretty clothes.”Hongjoong smirks at him and Seonghwa would like to say he’s too disciplined to blush but he’s not.He just hopes whatever blood Hongjoong doesn’t manage to dislodge with his …spit… covers the worst of it. 

Suddenly, FINALLY there are footsteps on the stairs and they both freeze.Eyes widening Seonghwa is just about to push Hongjoong into a closet, cupboard, drawer… SOMETHING, when the hand that was on his face snakes down to grab his wrist instead.Not even sparing the door a look Hongjoong tugs him towards the window and Seonghwa wants to smack him because this house has five floors and they are on the fourth gods damn it Hongjoong! 

Hoisting himself up onto the open sill because, oh yeah, that was how the delinquent had gotten himself in here in the first place, Seonghwa had forgotten, Hongjoong grins at him over his shoulder before dropping out of sight.Seonghwa makes it the last few steps to the window with his heart in his throat, hands hitting the sill as his entire upper body leaves the building in his haste. 

Only to find the smug bastard standing on the deck a few feet below. 

“You parked the ship right here?”He gasps breathlessly, caught between laughing at the sheer audacity and freaking out because by the scales of the holy dragon carp the ship is RIGHT HERE, at the side of the dead glass merchant’s five story mansion. 

“It’s fine.I stowed the sails.”Hongjoong grins and it is on the tip of Seonghwa’s tongue to ask how that helps in any way but the footsteps behind them are getting closer, creaking down the hall to the door. 

Seonghwa’s pulse pounds in his ears as he awkwardly maneuvers the flowing material of his robes over the sill.He usually likes the fluttering lightness of the silks but now he would give anything to be wearing coarse linen pants like Hongjoong is.Finally, both legs over the edge he can hear the click of the doorknob beginning to turn.Below him Hongjoong holds out his arms and Seonghwa jumps. 

When Hongjoong catches him their noses come close enough to brush and his captain has stars in his eyes.

**3 Days Earlier**

Hongjoong saunters down the dry earth between the rows of trees tossing his ill gotten goods up and down in one hand.The day is hot, the weather dry, promising a precipitous plunge in temperature as soon as the sun sets.The best kind of time to be alive he thinks crunching into the apple he has just caught, feeling the juices burst on his tongue.The best time to catch a thief.He bears his teeth.The apple doesn’t stand a chance.He takes another bite and it gives under his jaws with a satisfying crunch. 

“Stop eating the merchandise.”A sullen voice grumbles from the tree line and Hongjoong winks at the kid standing with a bushel of apples in his overly muscled arms.The boy is wearing a sarong atop soft linen work pants, hiked up around his knees while he stands in the shade.It shows off thick thighs through the light material. 

Cute.Hongjoong smirks, exaggerating the roll of his jaw on the next bite just to watch the boy’s lips push out further in his pout.“Sorry, sorry!Here you can have it back.”He holds the half eaten apple out to the kid in a lazy grip curious to see what further provocation will get him. 

More pouting it turns out though he is pleasantly surprised when the boy snaps out his hand, grabbing the apple from him.Taking the bitten fruit in both hands the kid looks him dead in the eye and rends the apple right in half.Hongjoong’s eyebrows climb up his forehead as juice goes dripping down the kid’s tan, work roughened hands. 

The boy is smirking now like he’s just proven a point which is adorable.And never let it be said that Hongjoong ever backs down from a challenge.“Hot.”He grins, leaning forward towards the boy in the shade from where he still stands in the sun.His eyes trail down from the juice dripping off the kid’s fingers back to those glorious thighs.Thighs that look like they could crush his head if he managed to maneuver himself in-between them. 

“I bet that comes in handy in this kinda work.”He drawls.“Though… it looks like it’s made ya a bit sticky.Need any help cleaning yourself up?”As he speaks he drags his eyes back up, deliberately flicking his tongue out to taste the air when their gazes meet. 

The boy’s face is slack, his big plump lips slightly parted, cheeks two rosy rounds that remind Hongjoong absurdly of the apples still in the boy’s basket.Letting his jaw drop open he shows off the inside of his hot plush mouth just to drive the point home cause this kid looks all too sweet to have any experience with someone like Hongjoong.Abruptly he hears teeth click together as the boy shuts his mouth.Hongjoong is about to ask if he’s bitten his tongue but before he can blink the boy is hoisting his basket in apple sticky hands and rushing away. 

Hongjoong watches him go appreciating the curve of his shoulder blades, the solid line of his waist where it’s hinted at through the material of his sarong.Bad Hongjoong he chuckles to himself pulling his wide brimmed black hat back up onto his head from where it’s been hanging around his neck.Pulling another apple from the pocket of his baggy pants he continues on down the row of gently swaying trees unable to suppress his laughter every time he remembers the boy’s round cheeks or his pretty pout.Now if he can just get back what’s been stolen from him this would be a pleasant diversion from his goals. 

A pleasant diversion indeed he thinks a few hours later as he eyes the other cargo his ship will be carrying.His cover is two fold, first is the produce run to Han.He’s been picking up deliveries in the area for the last couple of weeks so it shouldn’t catch any unwanted attention.Second is this Hwaseong, a sponsored consort of the first class or whatever that means, that he will be housing on the ship for the next small moon cycle or so.For now Hongjoong just knows that if buff apple kids are cute then this sponsored consort or whatever is beautiful. 

Hwaseong stands at the edge of the orchard swathed in a white fluttering silk robe, the outline of his body indistinct and tantalizing through the material. His face is covered by a matching head scarf trimmed in gold with only two eyes, dark with kohl visible through the slit, watching him.What little skin Hongjoong can see is a burnished bronze that shimmers in the sun. 

Nice.He whistles as he saunters up, he can’t help himself. 

Through the slit in the head scarf those dark eyes narrow. 

A fine boned hand reveals itself,perfectly manicured nails deftly unlatching the hidden catch in the cloth which falls away to reveal the rest of the man’s face.And daaaaaamn Hongjoong has gotten himself into some good shit this time he thinks. eyebrows ascending to bump into the bottom of his hat.A moment later he’s composed himself, stalking forward all teeth and cocky assured role to his hips. 

“Sir.”He tips his hat once he’s got the man’s attention, letting the black fabric fall back to hang around his neck in a show of courtesy.He savors the word, letting the consonants role around his tongue as Hwaseong looks him over with his sharp sharp eyes.The way he angles his head, the delicate way he has folded his arms and those perfectly straight brows reminds Hongjoong of a bird.One of those little dangerous things with the razor sharp beaks that impale their prey on the thorns out in the bad lands of the desert.Hongjoong likes it.Anything that can survive out in the wind and sands of the wastes is good by him. 

“You are Hongjoong I presume?”The voice is mellow and rich bubbling like the fine wines he used to serve when he was a child waiting on the syndicate tables.It’s a shame the first thing he has to do is correct the man. 

“Captain Hongjoong,”He drawls keeping his voice lazy and his eyes half lidded in appreciation.“…if you don’t mind.”He winks at the consort and watches those intelligent amber eyes asses him again, taking in the dark smudges of old kohl around his lashes, the flashes of silver at his ears and the dry overgrown hair blanketing his neck.Hongjoong wants this Hwaseong to like him.Wants him to see him as an amiable, friendly guy.But just because Hongjoong is playing nice doesn’t mean he’ll EVER stop being dangerous. 

“My apologies captain.I ment no offense.”Hwaseong dips his head in the tiniest of bows never breaking eye contact and oh, yeah, Hongjoong likes that. 

“Naw don’t worry about it.”He grins shrugging the tension away with a lazy role of his shoulders.“Wanna see your new digs?”He says flashing his teeth. 

“Yes, that would be best.”Hwaseong agrees falling in beside him when he turns to walk back to where he’s got his ship anchored, crates of apples loaded and ready to go. 

“We can finish goin over the contract back on the ship once you’ve had a look.”He assures his soon to be passenger which wins him his first smile from the consort.And hwooeey Hongjoong can definitely agree this man is worthy of being called first rate.One smile lights up his whole face and Hongjoong misses a beat in his step as he trips over his own feet. 

“Thank you.I appreciate you letting me look around first.”Hwaseong says with his pretty red lips. 

Hongjoong waves him off.There’s no way Hwaseong isn’t going to like Hongjoong’s ship.Everyone likes Hongjoong’s ship.‘It’s why you have to go steal your notebook back from a no good glassblowing pile of trash’ he reminds himself caustically.And as in all things Hongjoong is right. 

Hwaseong’s feet halt as they round the last building to where Hongjoong’s got his girl anchored.Since the consort hasn’t reattached his face wrap Hongjoong gets to watch his slack jawed reaction in all its reverent glory as Seonghwa cranes his neck up to take in the entirety of the ship, floating in the air on the outskirts of the town. 

“Beautiful ain’t she?”Hongjoong grins fierce pride bubbling up in his chest whenever he gets to look at his girl.To remember that she’s his and he’s hers and together they are free as the wind. 

“What is that?!”Hwaseong sounds starstruck and yeah, that tone alone has Hongjoong hoping that this arrangement will work out.He really likes this man. 

“That is my ship.”He says taking pity on the poor consort when he just continues to stare.Walking up to the clean waxed hull he presses his hand flat against the warm wood and Hwaseong jumps as the gangplank unfolds. 

“Welcome aboard the Mirage.” Hongjoong grins holding out his hand for his consort.A little bewildered, a little incredulous, Hwaseong takes it.

This is nothing like what he was picturing.Seonghwa can admit when he saw the offer among the other travel posts he had been incredulous at best, skeptical at worst.Full room and board on a mobile facility with simple amenities and food provided for only 10shells a month?There was no way the offer could be legit. 

Still it isn’t like Seonghwa can afford to be picky right now.He’s gotten himself into a bit of a predicament… he can be honest enough to admit that.Desperate enough to check out a very dodgy offer on the travel board but not desperate enough to stick around if it turns out to be a scam.If it looked sketchy at all he’d assured himself as he’d set off for the small town outside of Han that morning he’d bite the bullet and go crawling back to lady Miyeon.No matter how it would hurt his pride …or his person.

This though, this ship and its captain are definitely sketchy.Sketchy as all high water but worryingly he’s not sure that he cares. 

“H-how high did you say it could go?”He tries to keep the excitement from his voice, the wonder from his tone as they rise steadily into the air.The shining wood of the deck doesn’t so much as wobble beneath his feet as the great ship, like one from the tales of old climbs higher into the sky. 

Beside him leaning on the railing the ship’s captain shrugs, his eyes low lidded against the evening sun as he watches Seonghwa freak out about his flying ship of legend.Seonghwa would be more upset at Hongjoong’s lack of reaction to the spectacle but it occurs to him that this IS Hongjoong’s ship so maybe he has the right to remain chill in the face of impossible things. 

“Pretty high?”The captain offers chuckling when Seonghwa sticks his head back over the side to watch the little orchard town get smaller and smaller on the ground beneath them.“Haven’t found the limit yet but it gets really cold up there so we’re gonna stay about here for now.”He pushes off the railing beckoning for Seonghwa to follow. 

“Lets talk inside.”He says and yeah, now that he’s not transfixed by the TINY trees in their perfect little rows below them Seonghwa can feel the chill wind biting at his cheeks.They duck into the captain’s cabin and Seonghwa once again has to hold back his incredulity because not only is there a full size refresher visible through an open door at the back of the room but also the whole space is heated.The temperature shift as he steps through the door into the cabin is heavenly and he once again experiences a minor freak out that must show on his face because Hongjoong laughs. 

It’s not the kind of laugh Seonghwa was expecting from the man.Everything he’s seen so far from his new …landlord? has been rolling confidence, a dangerous control to every move he makes that speaks of proficiency in some kind of weapon and a pair of charming bedroom eyes.He had expected the man to laugh rich and dark like velvet using the sound to taunt or tease but this laugh rings like the fine tinkling of bells. 

“Grab a seat and let’s talk business.”Hongjoong says navigating through the cluttered room to a desk half buried in loose paper, odd twisted bits of metal and several large sparkly rocks.He seats himself behind it, immediately tipping his chair back so he can swinging his feet, boots and all, up onto the paperwork. 

Seonghwa takes all this in and decides not to comment.He has had certain standards beaten into him during his training but they can work on Hongjoong’s etiquette over time.The best corrections are subtle so that the one involved has no way to fight it. 

Carefully he picks his way through the mess to a chair on the opposite side of the desk from his host who mercifully decides to put his feet down around the time Seonghwa takes his seat.The legs of the captain’s chair thump down to the floor soon after and he rubs his hands together under a wicked grin. 

“So first things first.”Hongjoong says, folding his arms on the table as his lips tip up in a playful smirk.“I’m a pirate.” 

“Oh.Of course you are.”Seonghwa replies because what else is he supposed to say to that kind of pure and honest claim? 

Hongjoong leans his chin on his knuckles and narrows his eyes to slits as they stare at each other for one long drawn out heart beat.Seonghwa can’t look away.The days old kohl smudged around Hongjoong’s eyes make him look like a feral back alley cat, lean and mean and ready to pounce on whatever has become unfortunate enough to be his prey.Then he laughs, like bright and clear bells and it break the tension, Hongjoong looking away almost as if he’s shy.But that can’t be right, he’s the owner of an impossibly cool airship and also possibly a pirate.Seonghwa is so confused. 

“That went well.”The man before him beams and it’s possibly the first real smile Seonghwa has seen from him he realizes.Soft and sweet where all the others had been wide and shown his teeth.“I didn’t think I’d get someone good on my first try.”Hongjoong giggles and it’s like the other bucket of water drops in Seonghwa’s head. 

“You were serious…”He breaths and Hongjoong’s face falls, that innocent relief rolling back under the surface of the waves as his eyes shutter under lowered lids. 

His mouth is red and loose as he purrs.“Yeah I was.” 

“No no no!”Seonghwa waves his hand as if it will somehow cause this conversation to slow down.“I’m just confused.”Hongjoong cocks a brow and oh, Seonghwa can do that too.“You know I’m sanctioned by the central government in Horizon right?”He asks and Hongjoong nods.“Soooo why are you telling me?”He finishes his perfectly polite smile feeling the strain as he tries to make sense of the situation. 

Hongjoong sprawls back in his chair with a shrug propping one foot up on the dark wood of the seat.His pants are a tad bit too short riding up to expose a strip of fair skin at the ankle. 

“Honestly?I don’t think it’s gonna effect you much.I just wanted to be upfront about it from the start.”He says and Seonghwa feels his brow crinkle in a most unbecoming fashion because I’m sorry, what? 

“Right now, I don’t want to catch too much heat.”Hongjoong elaborates.“So no big heists, no large scale smugglin and no pop’n people unless they REALLY piss me off.”He drawls pinning Seonghwa with those dangerous eyes and a click of his tongue. 

He’s got something in his hand Seonghwa registers distantly.Some little metal contraption that has a part he can flick back and forth almost like the move is a nervous tick.He wishes the other Hongjoong would come back.The one who laughs like the peel of bells and is maybe just a little bit shy.If only because this Hongjoong, pirate Hongjoong Seonghwa realizes, is giving him a headache. 

“Then why be a pirate at all?”He asks wanting to rub the spot between his eyebrows that has begun to prickle. 

“Cause I got some goals that aren’t really in line with the government’s whole shtick yusee.” 

And then Hongjoong proceeds to tell Seonghwa a very complicated story about how a few weeks back he’d had his most precious possession stolen by a horrible glass merchant and how the man deserved to get keelhauled behind the back of the ship once Hongjoong’s precious baby was returned. 

By the end Seonghwa has given up pretending to be unfazed by it all. 

“Why are you fine with telling me all this?”He asks rubbing at his temple.“I haven’t even agreed to stay yet.What’s to stop me leaving and reporting you to the sherif?”An idea strikes him suddenly and he straightens up like his knuckles have just been rapped by a ruler.“You aren’t thinking of killing me if I decide to back out are you?”He presses and Hongjoong snorts. 

“Don’t be dumb Mr. first rate consort.”He says, licking his lips after Seonghwa’s title like he can taste it.Hongjoong is once again leaning forward, arms folded on the desktop.He’d gotten quite animated with his hands at certain parts of his story, returning both feet to the floor to do so.

“C’mon Hwaseong I know you’re a ‘big shot’,” Seonghwa desperately wants to role his eyes as the pirate before him makes air quotes.“But I’m not on any residential record and neither is my ship.You go around yelling about a boat that can fly and no one’s gonna believe you.” 

He grins, bottom lip bitten and red and Seonghwa’s eyes focus on it without thought.“I’d just tie you up and dump you in the galley for a few days so you couldn’t spook the nasty glass merchant before I could get to him. 

“Remember,”Hongjoong’s voice isn’t that deep but when it drops half an octave Seonghwa still gets goosebumps.“I don’t kill people unless they piss me off and you?”Hongjoong’s eyes flash, clearly taking in Seonghwa’s appearance with some appreciation.“I think I like you.I think you and I are gonna get on just fine.”The captain purrs and Seonghwa feels his throat bob when he swallows, knows Hongjoong sees it because his eyes slide down to watch and he smiles. 

The next time he opens his mouth Seonghwa knows he’s made one of those fateful decisions, the ones in your life that really count.That will change who you are forever.“Where am I staying then?”He asks and Hongjoong beams at him happily.

“You got two options.”He says, still amazed that this conversation has gone smoothly enough to progress to this point.Hwaseong’s demeanor doesn’t match up with what Hongjoong thought he was getting into when he agreed to house a government sanctioned consort.Then again Hongjoong hasn’t really met any other consorts before so he might just be wildly off base with his assumptions. 

No the man sitting demurely across from him, hands folded neatly in his lap, hasn’t looked shocked or outraged at Hongjoong’s profession even once.Adorably confused sure but he can work with that.Confusion is an opportunity he reminds himself.Better for Seonghwa to build his assumptions about pirates on what Hongjoong shows him than have to deal with any preconceived ill ideas. 

“You got the crew quarters which isn’t in use right now but will be in the future if I decide to pick up some extra muscle.It’s got a communal fresher down the hall and easy access to the mess.Orrrr,” 

And he’s really hoping Hwaseong will go for this ORbecause hot damn that would give him something fun to look at.“You can bunk with me here in the captain’s cabin.There’s an extra bed”He gestures to the back wall where the bunks are stacked atop each other.Hwaseong’s eyes follow his hand and widen just a fraction.Hongjoong’s not surprised, they’re kinda buried under all his books and junk.“Freshers right over there,”He points to the only other door in the room. 

“It’s a bit of a walk to the mess but there’s a cold cupboard buried in here somewhere.”Hongjoong shrugs helplessly at the mess, taking in the way the consort’s face twitches whenever he’s trying to be polite and not show how outrageous he thinks this situation is. 

“You have a cold cupboard in your room?”Hwaseong sounds tired, he’s been rubbing at his temple for a while.It doesn’t make him look any less attractive in Hongjoong’s book. 

“Yea.”He smiles, propping his cheek up on his knuckles all too happy to just watch what’s unfolding in front of him. 

“A cold cupboard in your room that you’re not even using?”Hwaseong is not letting this drop and Hongjoong grins, it’s super cute. 

“Yea.”He roles the vowels through his mouth wiggling his eyebrows at the man.He hopes they look like big fuzzy caterpillars.Hwaseong drops his face into his hands drawing in a long breath.Hongjoong is pretty sure he’s just won.At something. 

“So, you staying here?”He asks, sure the amusement can be heard in his voice. 

“Will you allow me to clean?”Seonghwa asks, his face coming up, looking to Hongjoong beseechingly. 

“Sure,”He grins.“As long as you can find me something when I ask for it you can clean whatever you want.”It’s no sacrifice to let Hwaseong go through his stuff.It’s not like he’s gonna be able to read any of it anyway.It will be weird to have things moved around.He’s grown up with the mess.Hongjoong doesn’t think anything has moved since he was thirteen…

“Is there anything you don’t want me to do?Anywhere you don’t want me to go?”Hwaseong asks and yeah, that’s a good point. 

There’s not much for Hwaseong to ruin up here on the Mirage but she is his baby and well,“Don’t touch the rigging unless I tell you to.”He decides. “Oh and stay outa the engine room.It’s locked but I’ll put a sign up.”Hongjoong adds. 

Hwaseong nods taking the restrictions in stride and they move on. 

“Last thing to wrap up is our destination.”Hongjoong continues.“We’re headed to Han.Both for work and for pleasure.”He purrs just to watch the consort try not to squirm.“I got some produce to deliver and then a visit to pay to our good glass merchant.We’ll be in town overnight so you’ll have time to take a job if you want.Orrrrr~” 

He feels like he’s been giving Hwaseong a lot of trick choices during this conversation.Of course the only client a first rate consort could possibly find in a remote town like Han is their friend the glass merchant.This next bit will be the more appealing option to Hwaseong he’s sure. 

“Or?”The consort arches one perfectly shaped brow in mimic of Hongjoong’s less refined motion earlier he’s sure.Hongjoong can tell Hwaseong knows the drill by now too.

“Or you could work for me and cozy up to my target while I get my item back and I’ll wave the first moon’s rent.” 

Hwaseong sits back folding his hands primly in his lap.“And if I’m linked back to your inevitable break-in and theft?”The man says clearly concerned for his own well being.A stance in life Hongjoong definitely appreciates. 

“You don’t have to file the request if the job goes south.Han is so far out in the dunes no one will investigate if there’s no paper trail.”He coaxes.If what he’s gathered from Hwaseong’s temperament so far is correct it shouldn’t be a hard sell.For all he is a first ranked consort of Horizon Hwaseong has been remarkably laidback.Hongjoong is beginning to suspect his consort hasn’t got much choice right now.What kind of trouble his dear Hwaseong has gotten himself into Hongjoong is sure he’ll find out eventually. 

“All right, I agree.”He says just like Hongjoong expected he would.And hot diggity dog, like rain at dawn they are in for some good times.

**3 Days Later**

“So you remember that part where you said you wanted to be up front with things?”Seonghwa follows Hongjoong, dogging his heels as he heads towards the helm. 

“Haha yeah what about it?”The man who has just shot a person in cold blood giggles, glancing back at him over his shoulder.After their daring escape Seonghwa’s brain must not be firing on all cylinders yet because all he can think about right this second is ‘oh wow Hongjoong is actually super short.’Like really short.How had Seonghwa not noticed this earlier in their acquaintanceship?Shaking his head as if that will somehow dispel the intangible thoughts that are inside it he takes the the steps up to the rear deck two at a time just to keep up with Hongjoong. 

“Because when you mentioned being a pirate you didn’t say anything about this Pirate King business!”He puffs as they make it to the wheel and Hongjoong throws the lever to haul the anchor up. 

The ship begins rising at an alarming rate, almost forcing Seonghwa to his knees with the pressure.Staggering over to the railing he grabs on for dear life as the force of their ascent threatens to smoosh him into the sun warm wood of the deck.Wind rushes by and the glass merchant’s mansion streaks past them, larger than the eye can see one moment and a receding blob in scrub brush the next.Even smaller figures are flooding out of the doors like ants but they too disappear into nothing as, their ascent complete, Hongjoong grabs the wheel and swings them around to head into the sun. 

Giving up Seonghwa gingerly lowers himself the rest of the way down to the deck, his stomach catching up to him uncomfortably now that their movement has evened out.Pointed leather toes click into his vision and he looks up to find Hongjoong leaning down to offer him a hand with a grin, for all the world looking like the last few minutes haven’t effected him in the slightest. 

“Just the title doesn’t change anything.”His captain says with a grunt, hauling Seonghwa back to his feet when he deigns to offer his hand.“S’not like the Pirate King is a real thing right now anyway.”He shrugs his hand warm and rough around Seonghwa’s own. 

“Hongjoong,”He pins the captain with his eyes hoping they will convey his incredulity.“The Pirate King is in all the scriptures.People claim to be it all the time!”He admonishes.

“Yeah but they got the principle fundamentally wrong.”Hongjoong turns away propping his recovered notebook on the edge of the wheel, letting Seonghwa’s use of his name without his title slide.“The Pirate King’s not about burning and pillaging and all that other stuff.Those people are just using the title to justify their actions.” 

Seonghwa finally breaks and gives in to the urge to role his eyes.He has a feeling it will be the first of many such breaches in etiquette now that he knows Hongjoong.“I’m sorry, killing and stealing and setting things on fire ISN’T what being a pirate’s all about?Forgive us law abiding citizens our misunderstandings.What IS being a pirate about then?”He asks a bit tartly but if Hongjoong notices the condescension in Seonghwa’s tone he pays it no mind.Striding back out onto the deck he begins tugging at the rigging, loosing the ties on the furled sails and Seonghwa gravitates towards him helplessly as he speaks. 

“Nnn yu see there’s yur problem straight up.Who said those chair bound water sacks had any right to make their laws to begin with?All they do is sit around all day eating grapes and demanding others fill their water jugs.”Hongjoong lets go of the first tie, pinning Seonghwa with a flat look as above their heads the air snaps as the first sail billows open. 

“No thunder or lightnin’s gonna make me follow those kind a rules.” 

He moves to the next and Seonghwa’s hands twitch in his sleeves uselessly.He feels helpless, trivialized by the captain’s ruthless efficiency with the ropes and the cutting edge of his words. 

“The only thing it means to be a pirate is to be free.”The next sail goes up, snapping audibly like the wind through Hongjoong’s hair. 

“Free to live our lives with no regrets, to die on our own terms, to chase the real Horizon, not the edge of that stupid city they try to tell ya marks the edge of the world.”Hongjoong spits as if the capital, the sparkling jewel were Seonghwa has lived his whole life, where he’s grown up and trained and loved it as his own, is nothing more than another dusty dune in the desert.It wouldn’t hurt so much he thinks sadly if at its heart there wasn’t a spark of truth. 

“But pirates steal things and hurt people.You hurt people!”He tries because though Hongjoong’s words resonate with his heart, his head has been taught differently his entire life. 

“Someone who steals is a thief an’ someone who kills is a murderer.Killin’ an’ stealing don’t make you a pirate.N’ as for me…”Hongjoong shoots Seonghwa another one of those loose lipped grins, his eyes set afire by the setting sun and with a crack the last sail goes up and snaps out in the wind.“Never said I was a good man did I?”He drawls, tone deceptively light, lip slack, revealing his perfectly straight front teeth. 

And yes Seonghwa has just seen Hongjoong kill a man.But the glass merchant had been scum, taking something that didn’t belong to him and threatening to turn Hongjoong in to the government when he’d come to retrieve it.No, Hongjoong shouldn’t have shot him but if he hadn’t Seonghwa has no doubt the greedy man would have run straight to the sherif and news of Hongjoong would have made it back to the capital sooner or later.Anyway he looks at it Hongjoong would have ended up in a cell or worse for a sin he’d never committed and THAT doesn’t make Seonghwa feel sorry about shooting the glass merchant at all. 

“Sides’”Hongjoong shrugs as if they haven’t just been weighing his morals against his future,“When you do stuff like that you miss out on the best part of being a pirate.” 

“And what’s that?”Seonghwa can’t help but ask. 

Hongjoong’s got one hand wound around one of the ropes that comes from the rigging, the other he holds out to Seonghwa.Cautiously he takes it and Hongjoong grins all cheeks and wind in his hair. 

“This.”He says and with no warning whirls Seonghwa into his side.Hongjoong kicks a lever with his foot and they shoot up off the deck. 

Seonghwa shrieks, the sound getting whipped away on the wind, twirling around Hongjoong’s answering laughter until the two sounds blend together like the lost call of a bird. 

Arching through the air they land on the crossbeam of the topsail right next to the mast. Hongjoong puts out a hand to steady them and chuckles when Seonghwa clutches at him hard enough to bruise.

“You gotta look or it’ll be wasted.”He says, voice light and breathy right next to Seonghwa’s ear.Once it becomes clear that Hongjoong won’t let him fall Seonghwa tentatively unfurls to figure out what’s so important he had to be catapulted into the air to see it. 

The first glance takes his breath away. 

Before them the sunset stretches across the sky in more colors than Seonghwa has ever seen.At the base the mountains burn orange and brun and ocher in the light and above the forever wispy clouds reflect it in bruised blues and yellows and purples.Sunbeams dance across the sky, shading everything they touch with a gentle tint of pink.Over it all the desert sand shimmers, warping the view into rivers and waves he knows aren’t really there.

Distantly Seonghwa wonders if it all isn’t some kind of illusion brought on by the namesake of the great ship beneath them.If the ship and its captain are even real. 

Hongjoong is right, this is totally worth it. 

“That, is the real horizon.”The Pirate King says softly and Seonghwa can hear the reverence with which he speaks. 

They stand, silent, for a long time watching twilight role in around them. 

“So what makes you the real Pirate King?”Seonghwa asks later, when the sky has dimmed to just a line of fire against the purple darkness.He has to ask, the unfamiliar sensation of mischief rising up to fizz in Seonghwa’s chest. 

“This girl right here.”Hongjoong grins, slapping a hand affectionately against the mast beside him.“The Mirage is all the crown I need.” 

And as if talking has broken a spell Hongjoong shifts, tying the rope still in his grasp into some kind of harness around his waist and Seonghwa clings tighter.With a chuckle Hongjoong directs Seonghwa’s hands up around around his neck, tucking him snuggly into his side once more. 

He lowers them carefully, some mechanism on the deck regulating how fast they descend this time and Seonghwa finds he’s much less startled now that he knows what’s coming.He still spills onto the deck in a most undignified heap once they land, his legs giving out on him like the traitorous sticks of jelly that they are.It was rather cold up there he realizes, surprised to only be feeling the chill bite of the night now.

“Oh come on.It wasn’t THAT bad.”Hongjoong scoffs fingers swiftly disassembling the rope around his waist.He’s smiling though, his wheat straw locks bright against the night, the light of the stars in his eyes. 

“It… It wasn’t.”Seonghwa admits, the tingle of excitement still jangling just beneath his skin.“Still I would appreciate some warning next time.”He says tying to appear as dignified as he can while struggling onto his knees with his clothes in disarray and his cheeks whipped red from the wind. 

“Ah but if I’d told ya would you have actually done it?”Hongjoong grins challengingly and Seonghwa fights against the urge to pout because the captain’s got him there.If he’d known what was coming he’s not sure he would have gone through with it. 

“No I don’t suppose I would have.”He concedes and Hongjoong’s grin widens, dangerous humor crinkling the corners of his eyes. 

Suddenly there is a clatter from behind him and hot fire shoots through Seonghwa’s veins as his whole body jolts, trying to run.Whirling around and pulling the gun from his belt in one fluid motion Hongjoong stands over him and what a picture they must paint Seonghwa thinks as his heartbeat jumps in his throat.Him a damsel on his knees, white silks flowing in the wind, protected by the dashing figure of the Pirate King like something right out of one of the murals of legend.

“Oh shit, don’t shoot me.” A voice says and Seonghwa leans around Hongjoong’s shins to see who it belongs to. 

Two hands and a mop of dark hair poke up through the hatch from below deck.After a tense moment Hongjoong lowers his gun, slumping back into a deceptively relaxed pose. 

“Careful apple boy.Just cause yur cute doesn’t mean I won’t take a bite outa ya if you don’t play yur hand well here.”He drawls.


	2. A Glimmer of Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strict dad Hongjoong mode initiated ✨  
> but also this chapter earns that Hongjoong/everyone tag. There’s Hongjoong/Jongho and light Hongjoong/Yunho/Mingi. DON’T PANIC! Seonghwa/Hongjoong is still endgame! …But as it is endgame there must be more buildup and FEEEEELINGS involved. Which there aren’t really here. This fic is just turning out to be sluttier than I thought. I blame Yunho.  
> I’ll up the rating once actual sex happens. Or when the violence gets out of hand. Whichever comes first ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Also, of note I usually, use other kpop groups and idols as background or side characters. I'm thinking of doing this again in Sand so I just want to say, I don't hate any of these idols! If I make them villains it's because I think they'd be cool that way! It is in no way an indication of my like or dislike of them as people or groups! (though there's a minor one in this chapter who I will NOT defend in the slightest) 
> 
> I wanted to get this up on Tuesday but alas, it got way too long. So since I missed it, congratulations Ateez on the comeback!!

“Hongjoong?” 

Hongjoong flinches back from the counter sending his drink canister clattering.By the scales of the great dragon carp no.Anything but this.Beside him Jongho spasms in surprise, taking his cue from his captain. 

“Hongjoong!” 

His name rings out across the tavern again in that deep baritone and Hongjoong is already moving, some long buried instinct in his head surfacing just in time to let him dodge the person coming at him.Long noodle arms dive into the empty space were he was just sitting. 

Perched on the table, boot knife in one hand chicken wing from the plate of whoever’s food he’s just shoved out of the way in the other, he surveys his assailant.Deep down he already knows who this is but seeing him after all these years is something else entirely.And high water what are the chances?!He curses as Mingi turns, still as innocently surprised as when they were kids by Hongjoong’s ability to duck out on his hugs. 

“Hongjoong you’re alive!”His one time best friend says, guileless eyes wide in a face that still hasn’t grown into its too big nose and oversized ears. 

“Yo.”Hongjoong nods, talking around his bite of chicken.He is NOT prepared to be having this conversation right now.He wouldn’t be having it EVER if he had any say in things but apparently he doesn’t so fuck it, just fuck it. 

At least Hwaseong isn’t here to see it, out on a job to make up for the income he’d missed back in Han.But Jongho’s here, Hongjoong’s lip curls in annoyance.His newly minted cabin boy is watching this family drama unfold from the side, his big hands opened wide as if ready to wrap around the intruder’s neck.It’s a nice gesture Hongjoong thinks idly but if Mingi has spent the last few years like Hongjoong suspects he has, Jongho’s untrained grip will do fuck all to him.He needs to keep the kid out of this or he’s gonna get hurt. 

“Hold this.”He instructs pushing the half eaten chicken into the boy’s hands and dancing away as Mingi makes another lunge for him. Jongho glares at the chicken wing with his special brand of resting bitch face but seems to get the hint. 

“You’re alive!”Mingi says again, face split into a big grin that crinkles his eyes into slits completely unfazed that Hongjoong seems to want nothing to do with him.He begins creeping towards where Hongjoong is now standing on the next table over like the captain of the Mirage is a spooked cat that needs to be coaxed down out of the rafters.Unfortunately for Mingi who has grown a whole meter at least since the last time Hongjoong has seen him he does not look inviting at all.Still an idiot Hongjoong thinks as his former best friend advances, prancing forward on his toes. 

“Hi Mingi.”Hongjoong drawls because there is no getting out of this now.He can dodge Mingi for forever but he can’t LOOSE him.Not permanently now that the great oaf knows he’s not dead.Not without resorting to something very final like the knife still dangling from his fingers or the gun at his back.And yeah, he’s… he’s not ready to think about that yet. 

“Hi Hongjoong.”Mingi grins back practically vibrating at the use of his name and wiggles his fingers in an absurd little wave.The move is a good cover for his next swipe at Hongjoong, proving that Mingi has learned SOMETHING in the years they’ve been apart but it’s still not enough to catch him. 

There’s the clatter of plates and cutlery behind him followed by the cursing of innocent customers and Hongjoong looks back to find Mingi sprawled out on the table face first in a pile of pottery shards and spilt ail.As the poor overgrown excuse of a syndicate hitman bows to the angry customer rubbing his hand through his hair in apology Hongjoong takes the chance to regroup. 

His eyes scan the tavern, quickly taking in Jongho with his chicken wing by the counter, and something else interesting.At a back table there’s another tall beanpole of a man biting his lip and wringing his hands in agitation.Hongjoong sidles closer for a better look.The man is dressed both too well to be in this kind of establishment and also very haphazardly.He’s got a long white coat covered in dust and mysterious stains thrown over a grey silk dress shirt and slacks held up by an actual belt made of leather.It’s hard to make out in the dim light of the tavern but his skin looks clear and white, maybe even a little pink from sunburn.His hands are big, his fingers long and well kept though there is dirt under his nails.‘Not used to this kind of life yet are we’ Hongjoong thinks, feeling the corners of his mouth lift.If he really is with Mingi like Hongjoong suspects then this guy still hasn’t learned how to fly under the radar without painting himself as a big fat target. 

Unfortunately his assessment of the man is put on hold when Mingi extracts himself from the angry customers and pounces at him again.Hongjoong dodges keeping the man in sight, using every duck and turn to move himself closer step by step. 

“How are you alive?I watched them— I watched you fall!”Mingi follows him, sounding far too chipper to be discussing Hongjoong’s possible death and ugh THAT’S why Hongjoong never wants to be having this conversation.No way in thunder or lightning is he gonna answer that. 

“Oh you know, the Don always said I was a dirty rat with more chances at life than I deserved.”He drawls, his words provoking a falsetto giggle from his former friend. 

“Yeah he hated your guts.”Mingi laughs, light and unhampered despite the subject matter. 

“What you been doing since I left?”Hongjoong prods, turning the conversation away from the the topic of his supposed ‘death’.Doing his best to sound like he’ll CARE about Mingi’s answer.

Mingi shrugs, still advancing a few inches every step almost as if the habit of moving his feet is subconscious.“Not a lot.They had me on slaughter house duty for FOREVER.”He moans like they are still ten and nothing has changed and yeah, Hongjoong is real glad he made Jongho stay out of this one. 

“But!”And here Mingi brightens like the sun coming up in the morning.“The last few job’s they’ve let me guard some clients!”He hums, eyes crinkling back into a smile as he bounces on the balls of his feet. 

“You mean like this guy?”Hongjoong drawls, boot knife held lazily at the jugular of the man who’d been sitting in the corner. 

“F-fuck Mingi.”The man rasps.Hongjoong can feel his throat bump into the edge of his blade when he swallows.Mingi goes impossibly still at the voice, eyes darting down to where his client still sits at his table before snapping up to Hongjoong’s. 

“Oh come on bro don’t be like this!”He whines shuffling in place now that he can’t advance without endangering the man’s safety.

“Sloppy.”Hongjoong drawls dropping his free hand onto the guy’s shoulder, feeling the tense muscles jump beneath the dusty white coat.Over Mingi’s shoulder Jongho makes a face at him and Hongjoong purses his lips.Little shit better stay put if he knows what’s good for him.Hongjoong can’t afford to pay his cabin boy any attention right now if he wants to keep the advantage over Mingi.

“Why are you here Mingi?Where’s the Don?”He snaps causing the man under his knife to jump again. 

“He’s back in Utopia like he always is, promise!It’s just me here with Yunho.”Mingi laughs nervously waving his hands as if to deny everything and Hongjoong’s not sure he trusts him.Especially when he promises stuff.Mingi has ALWAYS been a liar. 

“Fuck Mingi!”The now identified Yunho says again. 

“Uh I mean I’m here by myself!Not with that guy at all!He studies rocks why would I be here with him?”Mingi flails and wow Hongjoong is impressed.What do they say? Loose lips sink ships?

“Fuck Mingi!”Probably A Scientist Yunho cries, the loudest he’s been so far.Mingi is a liar but judging by this Yunho guy’s reactions not about this.Hongjoong roles his eyes.These two are hopeless.Who thought putting them together was ok? 

“This is why they kept you on clean up duty.”He sighs turning his attention to the man under his knife.“Well then Mr. Handsome Rock Enthusiast Yunho, maybe I should ask YOU what yur doin here instead?”He purrs down at Yunho who is trying to look up at Hongjoong but his bangs keep getting in the way.Cuuuute.

“Uh I’m sitting in a dingy pub watching your sexy ass dance on the tables and trying not to pop a boner cause I might die before I get to study any rocks!”Yunho the scientist says all in one go and Hongjoong laughs into the back of his fluffy sage scented hair. 

At his perceived inattention Mingi makes a swipe at them ending up halfway across the table when Hongjoong kicks it over to shove him back and maintain the distance between them. 

“Ah ah ah, careful.”He purrs turning the knife in his grip to point down, ready to puncture the delicate skin just below Yunho’s breastbone.He looks Mingi straight in the eye as he does it too. 

In his arms Yunho shudders, breathing hard.Mingi isn’t looking at Hongjoong though, he’s still slumped against the overturned table but his gaze is fixed wide eyed on his client instead.Curious as to what’s got his old friend’s attention he lets his eyes slip down the scientist’s long lithe body, amused to see a suspicious bulge pushing at the front of the man’s perfectly tailored slacks.Oh nice. 

“You weren’t kidding.”He drawls and Yunho’s chest heaves under his hands.“That’s good.”Hongjoong purrs trailing his hand up to fist in Yunho’s hair.“I don’t like liars.”He hisses into the scientist’s ear, glaring at Mingi as he says it. 

“Mingi.”Yunho whines hips bucking against the chair at his words and oh, that’s interesting.He takes in Mingi’s slack jawed look as he stares at Yunho writhing under Hongjoong’s hands.He doesn’t think he’s ever seen his old friend’s face so still.It brings out the stark red of his mouth, the dark shadows around his eyes. 

From behind Mingi he can see Jongho.The boy has managed to get remarkably close without the syndicate hit or his hard up for rocks scientist noticing which makes Hongjoong think this just might work.He still want’s to whack his cabin boy for even trying it but well, worst case scenario they make a hostage exchange and run like its flooding.Catching Jongho’s eye he gives the tiniest dip of his chin, permission to go through with the only plan Hongjoong knows the boy will have come up with. 

“But you aren’t a liar are ya?You, are a good little scientist~”He cooes into Yunho’s ear intent on keeping both men’s attention off his reckless cabin boy.“And when yur good you get a reward.”He purrs carding his fingers through Yunho’s hair as he hears Jongho’s fist connect with the back of Mingi’s head, chicken wing and all. 

There’s a loud crack and then another a moment later as the syndicate hitman smacks his head on the overturned table on his way down.A breath of silence falls throughout the tavern, the other customers either having cleared out or hunkered down with their drinks at the start of the disturbance, then Yunho is wriggling for real in Hongjoong’s hold, uncaring of the dagger drawing blood through his shirt as he thrashes to get free. 

Hongjoong releases the scientist, giving him a push that sends him sprawling towards his bodyguard on his knees.The rough treatment doesn’t seem to register with Yunho in the slightest as he goes willingly to the ground beside Mingi. 

“Fucking shit Mingi!”He huffs pulling the other man’s head up into his lap, right next to his still present erection.That’s a good sign Hongjoong thinks, feeling his lips quirk up.Mingi is in for some fun times if he doesn’t get himself killed before then.

Sheathing his knife back in his boot Hongjoong dusts his hands on his pants as if he isn’t still as clean and pristine as when he waltzed in.Taking the two steps over to where Yunho and Mingi are sprawled on the floor like the disasters they are he squats down to eye level, bouncing on his toes.Yunho breaks off from where he’s dabbing at the blood on Mingi’s forehead to stare at Hongjoong in horror.He buries Mingi’s face into his stomach, bloodstained white coat wrapping around it as if he’ll be safe from Hongjoong if Hongjoong can’t see him.Hongjoong snorts, Yunho could always suffocate Mingi for him and solve all their problems he thinks wistfully.But no, as soon as Mingi’s up he’ll come chasing after Hongjoong again now that he knows he’s alive.So Hongjoong might as well make sure their next meeting will be on HIS terms.

“There’s a courier outposts for skiffs on the western outskirts of the city.Tomorrow, midmorning, meet us there .”He instructs Yunho.Then adds.“Just you and Mingi.No one else!”When it looks like Yunho might press his luck. 

“It’s funny you think we want anything more to do with you!”Yunho growls and it’s cute, like a kitten trying to bear fangs it doesn’t have. 

“It’s funny you think you’ll be able to STOP Mingi from going.”Hongjoong drawls standing up to loom over the scientist, dropping a forearm onto Jongho’s rippling shoulder for extra intimidation factor.“Sides,”He sucks his lower lip into his mouth, eyes dark with promise as he stares Yunho down.“You’ve still got a reward to collect.”He grins satisfied with the way Yunho’s face goes slack, his mouth dropping open.His work here is done. 

Turning away Hongjoong loops one hand as far as it will go around Jongho’s prodigious bicep and together they walk out.He’s got a lot to think about.What’s a scientist doing in Promise?One with a bodyguard no less?If whatever Yunho’s studying isn’t related to the mysterious Yeosang’s disappearance Hongjoong will eat his hat.Yunho needs to talk to Hwaseong but ugh that means introducing Hwaseong to MINGI and after the disaster that was Hwaseong meeting Jongho…ugh just ugh.Hongjoong can feel that headache coming already. 

And what under the sun is he going to do about Mingi?He can’t let him go back to the Don.Not ever again.Last thing he needs is the entire syndicate coming down on his back.Oh it’s going to happen EVENTUALLY but Hongjoong needs more time.He doesn’t think he’ll ever be ready to confront the Don but he can be prepared.

First things first though, he swats Jongho upside the head.The boy rears back with a swear.“Stop hitting me!”He roars. 

“I’ll stop hitting you when you actually use your brain for once!?”Hongjoong growls.“When I tell you to stay put you stay put!” 

Jongho grumbles something that sounds suspiciously like it has “saved your ass”and “gratitude”in it but Hongjoong’s having none of it.“What was that?You want to scrub the deck AGAIN tonight?”He says loudly, drowning out Jongho’s petulant complaints.

“No captain.”The boy grumbles, falling silent and they make their way back to the ship in peace from there.

**2 Weeks Ago**

“He’s an apple boy?”Hwaseong’s nose scrunches up adorably when he’s confusedHongjoong has discovered. 

“He works at the orchard.”He corrects taking pity on his poor consort. 

“Worked.”Jongho says drawing the attention of the adults back to the scowling boy in the room. 

They are in the captain’s cabin, all three of them, trying to figure out what to do with Jongho now that Hongjoong has decided not to shoot him.Hongjoong has graciously yielded his chair to Hwaseong and is perched against the slightly less cluttered desk.Hwaseong is still working on this cleaning thing.The beds are both unearthed and the floor is even visible in some places but there’s still a ways to go.The kid sits across from them, unharmed despite the stunt he’s just pulled.Hongjoong still has the gun in his lap.Lifting it he inspects the barrel when thick apple boy, now identified as Jongho speaks. 

“And why is it that you’ve come to end your employment with them?”Hwaseong asks still looking adorably confused.Jongho shoots Hongjoong a glance, obviously thrown that it isn’t him leading this conversation.But this works for Hongjoong.He’s more than happy to surrender the lead to the man who’s actual job is based on social formalities.It lets him sit back and watch Jongho react.He cocks a brow at the boy and Jongho scowls. 

“I was… I was hoping to…”The kid frowns deeper, his cheeks puffing up adorably.Hongjoong grins, sure that his teeth are showing.“I wanted out of there!”He finally spits out. 

“Looked like a cozy gig to me.”Hongjoong drawls cracking the gun open to inspect the bullets in their chamber.He can feel both pairs of eyes on him as he gives it a spin before snapping it shut. 

“I’ve been at the plantation my whole life.”Jongho continues, quieter now though his voice gains strength the longer he talks.“I just wanted out and I knew you had a ship.Though I had no idea it was a— well…“He trails off, eyes flitting around the cabin as if the right words to describe the Mirage are escaping him at the moment.“Anyway I wanted…”He trails off again, his face looking like he’s sucking on a lemon and Hongjoong wonders why it’s so hard to just say it. 

“I can work for you.”Jongho finally manages to spit out looking Hongjoong straight in the eye as he says it and yeah, that gains him points in the captain’s book for balls alone.Doesn’t mean Hongjoong is gonna make this easy for him. 

Leaning forward across the desk he gets right up in Jongho’s face.“You sneak onto my ship, make demands of me, the captain!And just expect to be taken in like the pampered stray you are?!”Scoffing he sits back and scoops the gun back into his hands.“What’s to stop me from dumping you at the next outpost we come to?”He sneers. 

At his side Hwaseong starts, turning to look at Hongjoong but Hongjoong ignores him, continuing to menace the white knuckled Jongho. 

“Pretty little apple boy wants to see the world?You don’t know what yur getting into.Why don’t I drop you right here for trespassing?My ships got a plank.I could walk you off it right this second.Drop you right here in the middle of the desert.That’s part of the world too ain’t it?”He smiles more a showing of teeth than a friendly thing but the danger dripping from his words is robbed the next second when Hwaseong explodes.

“We are not dumping him in the desert!”The consort squawks sounding scandalized.Hongjoong glares at him, willing the sweet, caring, idiot to SHUT UP. 

But defying expectations Hwaseong holds his ground tilting his chin up in defiance.“We are not dumping him in the desert or at some random outpost.”Hwaseong says again and Hongjoong could strangle the noble idiot for his misplaced mothering. 

“Shut UP Hwaseong.”He hisses and receives only minor gratification when the consort’s face crumbles and he swallows, finally looking down submissively. 

“I-I am sorry.I had no right…”Hongjoong’s stomach twists at the apology, his limbs filling up with ice. 

“No you didn’t.”He agrees, voice still dangerously soft. 

“But please!”Hwaseong is apparently not done and Hongjoong feels brittle, like something fragile is about to snap.“If you are really against employing him, take him back to Han.I will refund you whatever travel fees you deem necessary.”He says and that’s stupid.Hongjoong hadn’t pegged Hwaseong as being stupid.They can’t go back to Han, not for a while at least.Not until the glass merchant’s death has blown over and it’s more for Hwaseong’s benefit than Hongjoong’s really.No one SAW Hongjoong in Han where as Hwaseong was very visible, having contact with the dead man no less!No they aren’t going back to Han. 

“Well brat.Hear that?”He turns back to Jongho ignoring Hwaseong’s bowed head.“Sounds like someone here is willing to vouch for you.You fuck up it’s gonna be on his head.”He says jabbing a thumb at Hwaseong so Jongho knows just who’s life he’s going to wreck the next time he pulls a crazy stunt like sneaking onto a pirate ship. 

“Yes sir.”Jongho says smartly and well it’s something at least. 

Hongjoong narrows his eyes as he corrects him.“That’s captain to you cabin boy.”He drawls and watches with satisfaction as something twists in Jongho’s face at the title but he still manages to spit out a ‘yes captain’ that is up to Hongjoong’s standards. 

He watches the boy’s tan fingers flex into the meat of his thighs and remembers how they’d looked with apple juice running down them. 

“It’s been a long night.Let’s get you to bed.”He says rounding the desk to stride out the door, not sparing the consort a second glance.As he strides down the deck he can hear Jongho tripping after him. 

He’s still cold.

Seonghwa lets out a long breath once he’s alone.What had he been thinking? 

Allowing himself a moment since he knows no one will see he drops his face into his palms, pushing the heels of his hands hard into his dry eyes.Sitting in Hongjoong’s chair doesn’t feel right now so he stands and heads out onto the deck after them. 

Hongjoong has disappeared down the hatch with Jongho, probably back to the crew quarters.It’ll be a bit before he’s back.Seonghwa hugs himself against the chill of the night and waits. 

It will be better to talk out this issue sooner rather than later he thinks nodding to himself firmly, ignoring the twisting in his gut.His teachers have taught him better than to be complacent with his own mistakes.Fear is a thing to be mastered.His own faults are to be learned from and never repeated.He has been told this time and time again, each instance accompanied by a look of disappointment.Sighing he watches his breath cloud in the night air.He doesn’t need to see his teachers’ faces right now, he’s already disappointed with himself.

Seonghwa steels himself as the hatch swings back open and Hongjoong pulls himself up onto the deck. “You mentioned looking for crew members.”He begins smiling hopefully, but it soon falls when Hongjoong’s expression remains closed off. 

Lips pressed together, no tongue or teeth in sight for once Hongjoong advances on him and subconsciously Seonghwa takes a step back.“You think I wasn’t going to keep him if you didn’t step in to play martyr?”The captain is somehow managing to loom over him despite being shorter and Seonghwa continues backing up.“You really think I would have tossed him out in the desert?Is that it?”Hongjoong sneers, lip curling up for just a flash of canine to slip through. 

And oh, Seonghwa had imagined many ways that this conversation could go but this is worse than all of them.Because somehow he’s missed the point he thinks and the fragile branch of trust that was beginning to bridge the space between them has taken a hit.Hongjoong doesn’t look hurt.Hongjoong doesn’t look like much of anything honestly, his face iced over and dangerous in the moonlight.But just as Hongjoong has come to learn enough about Seonghwa to offer him his little branch of trust so too has Seonghwa learned about Hongjoong and he knows the Pirate King has many faces.He’ll need to find a way underneath the surface if he wants to know what his captain is really thinking. 

First it seems an apology is in order. 

“I’m sorry.I know you’d never do that Hongjoong.”He says feeling his shoulders slump.He hates that he has so misread the situation. 

“Then what was the point of that stunt back there?”Hongjoong snaps and it sends Seonghwa’s heart racing for some reason.‘Because it’s the most emotion he’s shown since you opened your big fat mouth’ he thinks and instead of making him back down as he would have if this were one of his teachers or a government examiner the blood racing in his veins makes Seonghwa feel just the tiniest bit brave. 

“I just wanted to help!”He snaps back fingers curling into fists at his sides.“Why would you say all those things if you didn’t MEAN them!”He argues and something in Hongjoong’s careful control just snaps. 

“Because someone else might have ment them!”He snarls, pushing into Seonghwa’s space and sending him stuttering back the last couple of steps until his back hits the wall of the captain’s cabin.He presses himself into the wood as Hongjoong gets right up in his face.“Because he’s lucky it was me he tried that shit on!Do you have any idea how many people out there would have just sold him on at the next port and been done with it?!I can’t have him doing shit like this and thinking it’ll be ok.The kid’s gotta respect me somehow!”He spits eye’s blazing. 

Looking down at him Seonghwa feels that vague sense of sadness well up again.“He doesn’t have to be scared of you to respect you.”He says softly, prepared for it this time when Hongjoong’s lip curls in disgust. 

“You’re just as naive as he is.”He scoffs but Seoghwa’s sure now. 

“I’m not scared of you.”He breaths.The space between them is so small it’s being heated by their bodies. 

“Well you should be.”Hongjoong whispers back angling his head just so, so that his breath puffs out across Seonghwa’s lips, hot and heady.The hairs on the back of Seonghwa’s neck prickle and he would back up but there’s nowhere for him to go.‘Please don’t make me break my own rules’ he thinks but it’s a small thought in the face of his captain.Hongjoong is staring up at him, the white light of the moon flashing under lowered lids and Seonghwa’s not scared, he’s really not. 

Then Hongjoong pulls away taking all the warmth in the night air with him.He turns away and though he KNOWS he’s taller Seonghwa feels small, utterly dismissed by Hongjoong, alone in this great big sky. 

“You undermine my control again you can walk the plank right next to him.”The captain says with his back to him and maybe a part of Seonghwa really is scared.Terrified of Hongjoong leaving him like everyone who has come before.

“Hongjoong!”He cries and Hongjoong whirls on him, a wild light in his eyes.“Captain,” Seonghwa corrects himself, swallowing the sadness that’s settled further into his chest at the dispassionate way Hongjoong regards him now when just an hour earlier his eyes had reflected all the colors of the sun.“There are other ways to lead.It doesn’t have to be like this.”He beseeches taking a step away from the wall towards him. 

The captain scoffs turning away and taking big strides back towards the cabin he hauls the door open.“It’s late.I’m going to bed.”He says pitching his voice over the wind and Seonghwa lets his hand drop.“You can do whatever you want.Go bunk with Jongho since you seem to care so much.”He shrugs still not looking back as the door swings shut behind him. 

For a long while Seonghwa doesn’t move.He HAD been considering bunking in the crew quarters, he had, but… He returns to his spot leaning against the wall and watches the moons make their voyage across the heavens.He stays until he’s so cold he has to choose. 

In the end the door of the captain’s cabin swings shut at his heels.There’s still one lamp burning for him.When he looks at the lower bunk he finds Hongjoong sprawled across it, still in his clothes, breathing deep.Seonghwa can’t help the little helpless smile that curls at his lips at the sight. 

Feet falling silently due to years of training he makes his way to the fresher, uses the facilities and carefully strips off his outer robe.Treading just as lightly back to the beds he folds his clothes neatly, setting them aside for the morning and then just… pauses. 

Hongjoong’s face is relaxed in the flickering light of the lamp.The kohl smudged around his eyes lengthening the shadow of his lashes and Seonghwa just breathes.He looks so young like this he thinks.No older than apple boy Jongho who Hongjoong keeps calling a kid.Seonghwa’s pretty sure he’s older than them both.Which isn’t saying much but still. 

Hongjoong is far too young Seonghwa concludes.Far too young to be worrying about the things he does, far too young to be acting so old.He smiles, a little bemused with his own thoughts.Seonghwa is aware he is being a bit of a hypocrite right now but there is one thing he knows about Hongjoong for certain. 

You are kinder than you think, he wants to tell him but after tonight it is apparent that Hongjoong wouldn’t want to hear it. 

That’s ok.Seonghwa smiles resisting the urge to run his fingers through the rough hair at the back of Hongjoong’s neck.By the time he has to leave the Mirage he’ll make sure Hongjoong knows. 

**6 Days Ago**

Jongho thought this would be different from climbing trees and picking apples but it’s really not.Apparently all life is like climbing a tree to pick apples he thinks morosely as he rappels himself down the outside of the ship.It IS a good thing climbing said trees has made him immune to heights he allows, glancing down beneath his feet where the ship’s hull slides away into wide open air and the rolling dunes below. 

He’s rigged up to a rope harness that Hongjoong had wound around his hips and over his thighs.And that had been more like it.The captain’s gaze had slid over Jongho’s skin like the heat of the noonday sun, eyebrow rising when Jongho tilted his chin up in challenge.Every few knots Hongjoong had tugged to check his work which had rocked Jongho into the captain’s space, sparks racing up his spine at the touch. 

As he spreads the wax he remembers how Hongjoong had looked in the orchard, jaws crunching down on the sweet flesh of the apple that WASN’T HIS.He’d looked smug, self assured, cocky.And Jongho had wanted to put him in his place so bad.

Flushing, he stops the thought there.He doesn’t want to remember how he’d failed to knock the smirk off what he thought was a freight captain’s face.Doesn’t want to think about how he’d lost his nerve under the pirate’s piercing gaze and wicked grin.He does remember the taste of the apple juice on his fingers that day and how it had been the sweetest he’d ever tasted.

Whatever this thing is that Hongjoong does to him, it’s nothing like climbing trees OR picking apples and Jongho’s not sure what he wants to do about it next time.Because there WILL be a next time.Jongho still doesn’t know how to tie himself into the harness properly. 

Part of him squirms at the thought of pushing one of his thighs between Hongjoong’s legs and forcing his head back by the hair.Of MAKING that infuriating smirk go away with a hand over the captain’s mouth or around his throat.And part of him still wants to turn and run like he had back at the orchard the first time they’d met.Because Jongho has never met anyone like Hongjoong before and he doesn’t know what to do!

But he knows he’s going to do something.Hongjoong had smirked at him, that infuriating mouth that always shows his front teeth soft and full as laughter danced in his eyes.So of course Jongho is going to do something. 

Hanging from the ship he hisses, feeling the shift of the rope around his legs chaff in places that used to have plenty of space.He remembers Hongjoong’s mouth the day he’d seen him in the orchard.Stretched wide as he bit into the apple and for one blissful moment Jongho had actually LIKED the fruit.That afternoon he’d volunteered to help load up the delivery and never looked back. 

The orchard had been fine, his parents had been fine, the overseers had been fine.But that was all it was, fine.Jongho is sure there’s more out there then just fine, more people and things like Hongjoong who is definitely FIIIIIINE but also thrilling and new and makes Jongho so hot he can feel his blood dripping in his veins. 

Frowning morosely he dips the paintbrush he was given into the can of wax at his belt and swipes it over the clean hull of the ship before him.Now he just needs to prove to the captain that he can be useful.Hongjoong keeps treating him like a kid and it’s not fair!Jongho has scrubbed the deck, hung the laundry, and done all number of menial tasks over the last few days without complaint and still Hongjoong hasn’t let him touch the sails or the rigging.There’s got to be something he can do to prove to Hongjoong that he is definitely NOT a child. 

With the rag he was given Jongho buffs the newly waxed boards until they gleam in the sun.The muscles in his back bunch with the movement, his sleeve straining to contain the flex of his bicep under the cloth.Blinking at his arm he does it again, deliberately this time, watching his shirt move over his covered skin in contemplation. 

Well there’s a thought, he smiles, going back to work.Before that he has to make sure the entire hull of the ship shines so bright it’ll blind someone.He’s not giving Hongjoong any chance to complain.

Since dropping Jongho off the starboard side Hongjoong has been in the engine room.Hwaseong and now Jongho too are barred from coming in so it has turned into his private space.Where he comes to think or catch a moment alone. 

It’s all happened so fast.He was alone for so long he’s forgotten what being around other people all the time is like.Even then, he’s never been around other people who who didn’t curse or kick at him for being underfoot.Yet every now and then he still wants to sneak off to a place that’s quiet and only his. 

The novelty of having such a place is not lost on him either.When he was a kid with the syndicate he didn’t have it and then once he was alone he didn’t need it. instead longing for another person to break the silence.But now, surrounded by the quiet whirs and clicks of the engine, the Mirage’s heart, Hongjoong breathes. 

Fucking Jongho is gonna give him an aneurism and he’s only been on the ship eight days!Fucking kid and his fucking thighs and his fucking demanding little whiny brat act!Fucking fuck! 

Hongjoong leans over, bracing one hand against the sleek black metal of the engine and grinds the heel of the other against the juncture of his thighs.He’s half hard already, Jongho’s dark eyes and pouty smile flashing behind his eyelids from earlier when he’d stood there, letting himself be tied into the rigging ropes. 

He’s been pestering Hongjoong since day one to let him help with the ship and Hongjoong’s put him off for as long as he can.Finally done with the boy’s cocky act he’d decided to throw him off the side with the waxing equipment just to watch him panic at the thought of dangling from such a height. 

It came with the added bonus of getting to confirm just how thick those thighs were as he’d laced the boy in.Hongjoong bites his lip, grinding down on himself with his hand again as he can now confirm Jongho is built like a brick house.The outline of the boy’s dick through his linen pants had also proved everything was proportional.And fuck if that hadn’t been tempting.But no, Hongjoong shouldn’t take advantage of Jongho just cause the kid is asking for it. 

He doesn’t know WHAT he’s asking for Hongjoong is certain.He sees the confusion in the boy’s eyes even as he sees the heat and want color his cheeks.And Hongjoong’s right there with him despite being sure he hides it better.He knows what he wants, what people are capable of doing to each other.He’s seen plenty of things he wasn’t supposed to when he was young short and easily dismissed back with the syndicate.He’s just been alone for so long…There was no one to experiment with except his own hand which for lack of a better option he puts to use now, sliding down to his knees as he grinds it into his erection again. 

He’s fully hard now, pulling his other hand away from the engine to yank at the hemp cord keeping his pants up.It comes loose, the wide waistband making it easy to snake a hand down the front and palm his cock.His high pitched hiss joins the whirs and clicks of the Mirage around him blending in seamlessly with his ship. 

For the most part he’s quiet as he takes himself in hand.Sound happening more on the inhale than the exhale as he works his arousal.Jongho flashes in front of his eyes.As they’d first met in the orchard, skin dappled in the shade, apple juice dripping from his fingers.As he’d last seen him, disappearing over the side of the ship, dark eyes still daring Hongjoong to rise to the challenge even as he ignored the sudden drop beneath his feet. 

Hongjoong has a sneaking suspicion that Jongho isn’t scared by the height the ship is cruising at AT ALL.And fuck!Heat surges through him at the thought. 

What is it about his chosen crew that makes them both so attractive to him?!Because yes, Hwaseaong and his perfect posture and delicate hand gestures really does it for him too.

He has plenty of material if he want’s to fantasize about Hwaseong as well but… no, not this time.The consort and him HAVE spoken in the week since Jongho joined but it’s been awkward, stilted, unlike the easy flow of those first two days.Hongjoong doesn’t want to think about how much MORE awkward it will get if he uses images of the consort to get himself off right now. 

No, right now what he want’s is Jongho.Jongho’s tree trunk thighs bracketing his head, flexing at his hips.The boy’s arms curled up behind himself in more rope, sun-kissed muscles bunching as he tests his restraints, always testing… Those dark accusing eyes looking back at him over a bronze shoulder. 

Hongjoong want’s the easy uncomplicated, CHILDISH want that Jongho throws around in everything he does.A kind of want Hongjoong has never been allowed to have and now finds himself struggling to understand.It’s intoxicating, a full body shiver going through him as he imagines being able to want like that.To demand attention from others without fear that they won’t take what you offer them and and crush it until you cry. 

Hongjoong imagines making Jongho, proud, naive, TRUSTING Jongho cry and feels his cock twitch between his fingers.Oh he will make the little shit cry he vows fisting his flesh tighter.But it’ll be because Hongjoong has given him exactly what he wants, led him up to such a height that he will finally pay attention to the fall. 

Hongjoong comes, grinding his teeth together at the image of Jongho on his knees, clothes disheveled, tan skin flushed pink and on display, his hair wrecked and sticking to his face from his tears.It’s good.One of the best he’s had in a long while. 

When he was alone the novelty of an orgasm had soon worn off and taking care of his teenaged body’s needs had become more of a responsibility than an indulgence.But this…Lazily his head tilts back to the ceiling, his neck on display in the empty room.Everything feels relaxed, his muscles buzzing faintly even still.Sweat dampens the hair at his temples and down his neck.This makes him feel alive inside his skin.For a long moment nothing moves accept the air around him, shifted in trickles and currents by the mechanisms of the ship’s engine. 

The ache settling into his knees is what finally gets Hongjoong moving, sending him slumping down to the ground with a hiss.His free hand props him up and he gently pulls the other out of his pants.It’s streaked in cum, pearly and translucent in the glow of the dim lights.Hongjoong wrinkles his nose at it.He’s tasted his own cum before, mostly as an experiment when he was bored by himself but also because everything he’d learned growing up said you had to.That not re-ingesting it in some way was a waste of moisture that only the rich and powerful could afford. 

Well screw that it’s not like Hongjoong or anyone on the Mirage is ever going to run out of water.Fetching an already dirty rag from his back pocket Hongjoong cleans his hand.He tastes awful.There’s no way anyone would ever enjoy eating that. 

Pushing himself to his feet, hands fisted in the loose waistband of his pants so they don’t pool around his ankles he goes about tying them closed again with his makeshift hemp belt.Shoving the rag back into his pocket he runs a hand through his hair hoping he doesn’t look like he’s just spent the last half hour on his knees imagining doing unspeakable things to Jongho’s thighs.He’s sure he can spin it in a more positive light if someone asks. 

Everything back in order he heads down to the mess to make his crew lunch.He’ll check on Jongho’s progress in a bit.Kid needs more than a half hour to stew in his own hormones.

It’s hot and Jongho is getting hungry.Good news is he’s almost done.With this side of the ship at least.He’s worked from top to bottom ending up UNDERNEATH the hull assisted by a series of handholds and ties in the burnished wood no doubt there for just this purpose. 

He has to reach up now to paint the wood and he’s sure there’s wax in his hair even though he’s done his best.The ship is radiant, a testament to that and Jongho almost wishes he could grab the wheel and turn the starboard side into the sun to show it off but if he tries to steer he knows Hongjoong will be furious. 

Just as he’s finishing up the last few patches under the foredeck the rope tugs sharply around his waist three times in succession and Jongho nearly fumbles the paintbrush.That’ll be Hongjoong asking not so subtly if he’s dead yet.Jongho yanks back once replying that he’s fine like his captain has taught him too. 

He finishes the last few spots with less care than he’s done the rest but really if someone sees them they’re either able to fly or the ship will have been grounded.In with case Jongho is sure he will be enlisted to grind the sand off the hull and do the waxing again anyway. 

Capping the wax and stowing the brush he heads back up. 

His own way. 

Without giving the proper signal to be pulled back onto the deck. 

Leaning against the railing Hongjoong watches the side of his ship as it sparkles in the early noon light.Really this would be much easier if there was ever anything to pick at about Jongho’s performance.But no, the kid has been perfect in everything that’s been asked of him so far which just irks Hongjoong more.He needs an excuse to cut Jongho down to size so that he can get a handle on that smug brat attitude the boy’s always throwing at him.Hongjoong is not the bad guy here but he IS the captain and he needs Jongho to stop testing him on that. 

He’s just signaled the boy to finish up.Lunch is ready and it’s time to haul the kid back up.Idly he looks down, following the rope where it curves around, disappearing under the ship.Only it doesn’t anymore.The end of the tether is in sight once again with Jongho hanging from it and Hongjoong wants to curse. 

Stupid boy was supposed to signal him so he could get the pulley to bring him back up!But no, here he is coming up under his own power, feet planted on the hull as he walks himself up the rope, biceps bunching as they hold his weight, back straight and bangs in his eyes.And oh shit!Hongjoong sinks his hands into his hair and pulls, does this mean the kid also has abs?!What did they feed this boy for him to be so built?! 

That aside Hongjoong’s heart is in his throat because if Jongho slips now, with all that slack rope dangling in the wind beneath him he is going to drop a good 20 meters and that will either have the rope snapping entirely or giving him some NASTY bruising. 

Hongjoong is going to KILL this kid. 

Oblivious Jongho levers himself up over the railing, standing proud on top of it against the blue blue sky for just a moment before stepping down onto the deck.Hongjoong has taken the few moments since realizing what Jongho was doing to compose himself, regulating his heartbeat before he has to look at the boy’s smug little smirk. 

And smug it is, Jongho’s face tends to be more stoic Hongjoong has observed, still weighed down in the cheeks by pudgy baby fat, but that just makes every little change on it that much more noticeable and what he’s got right now is definitely a satisfied smug Jongho.The boy looks at him, eyes darkened by his bangs, biceps rippling and hands him back the can of wax. 

“Impressive.”Hongjoong allows setting the wax down on the deck and oh Jongho’s eyes light up with the praise, something about it softening the boy’s entire face.It’s almost a shame Hongjoong is about to ruin it. 

“You’re so good at all this let’s have a quiz.”He drawls and immediately Jongho’s face shutters, settling back into grumpy and defiant.“What do you think would happen if you fell from the outside of the ship with a lax rope?”He says and Jongho’s face does some funny wiggling, none of it apologetic in the least. 

“I don’t know.”He finally says once it has become clear that Hongjoong would like an answer. 

“I don’t know CAPTAIN.”He says after another long moment, huffing when Hongjoong raises an eyebrow at him. 

“Well you’d fall,”Hongjoong continues unhelpfully and from the look on Jongho’s face he knows it.“and the rope would probably break so you’d keep falling and smash into the ground and die.”Jongho’s mouth settles into a firmer line. 

“Even if the rope somehow, miraculously held your weight,”Hongjoong swings his head to the other side of his neck, still loose, still in control of his anger though it quivers beneath his skin.“Well there would be some BAD bruising and possibly some broken bones.”He finishes and Jongho is finally looking down at his feet thank the soft verdant soil.He was beginning to think nothing could bring this boy pause. 

“So are you going to walk up the side of my ship again?”He asks, voice dangerous in how quiet it is. 

“No…”Jongho mumbles still staring at his feet, his lip stuck out in a truly spectacular pout. 

“Good.”Hongjoong bobs his head pushing his lips into an exaggerated frown.“Not worth getting footprints on my girl after she’s just been cleaned either.”He’s half joking, half serious.Jongho’s feet on his ship are the least of his worries but still why bother with the hassle? 

“Are you sorry?”He prompts next. 

Jongho’s scowl deepens like the corners of his mouth have been attached to his toes.“Yes…”He finally manages scuffing his foot against the deck like a fucking five year old. 

Good thing he’s NOT five Hongjoong thinks distantly because all that talk of not taking advantage of the kid is quickly going straight out the window.But is it really taking advantage when the one about to be wrecked so obviously wants it?Jongho could be experimenting with this in much worse ways Hongjoong acknowledges, unwilling to back out of what he is about to do now. 

“Then on your knees.”Hongjoong snaps and Jongho’s eyes zip back up to his, wide and blinking.

“Did I stutter?”He purrs and Jongho is falling to his knees so fast he makes a distinct thump when he hits the deck. 

“As punishment for getting your dirty feet all over my pretty ship let’s see how you like it.”Hongjoong says lifting his chin as he finally, FINALLY, gets to look down at Jongho on the deck before him like the misbehaving child that he is. 

The boy’s got his back to the railing, his knees spread where he kneels on the deck, chin high and eyes glinting in challenge.The shit, Hongjoong thinks.He’s asking for it and who is he to say no to that face?Slowly, deliberately he raises his boot and looking Jongho dead in the eye brings it down to press firmly at the dick still framed by the rope harness around his thighs. 

Seonghwa is familiar with the acts of sex.Has been trained in them by his teachers until he was deemed competent despite the fact that he is not expected to PERFORM them as a part of his duties.But this is the first time he has watched something sexual occur in front of him and felt… disappointed? 

In Hongjoong?In himself?He’s not sure.If it’s Hongjoong it’s because he doesn’t want him to be doing those things with Jongho.The boy is young and impressionable.If it’s himself… well it’s still because he doesn’t want Hongjoong to be doing those kinds of things with Jongho but for a COMPLETELY different reason.One that is personal and he is not going to look at too closely. 

It’s not happening RIGHT in front of him either thank the great dragon carp. 

He’d been cleaning the captain’s cabin.After over a week it was looking much better.He’d sorted Hongjoong’s papers into a pile still to be looked at, taken books down from the bookcases, dusted and put them back up.The floor is clear of clothes and newly mopped and swept though the washer in the refresher had grumbled every time he’d put in a new load.He’s still amazed it hasn’t run out of water but Hongjoong has assured him he can do as many loads as he likes without worry. 

The rest of Hongjoong’s nicknacks and sparkly rocks have been artfully displayed along the tops of the bookshelves and dresser, stuck in place with convenient little strips of adhesive Seonghwa has never seen before, in case of a hard landing or a steep ascent.The elusive cold cupboard sits in one corner, now free of mold and holding a few drinks until he can restock it at their next stop.In the other corner there’s a safe box, empty and open.He hasn’t gotten around to asking Hongjoong what he want’s to do with it. 

He’d just been waiting for another load of laundry to finish drying in the sun so he could fold it and decided to fill his time until then by going through the papers he’d set aside.He doesn’t mean to snoop through Hongjoong’s things but the captain had asked that he be able to find things for him if he moved them. 

So Seonghwa thumbs through the first few sheets, and then a few more and feels his brow wrinkle.A few of the pages he’s passed have been in the common script of the desert but more than half have been in a spidery illegible language that Seonghwa has never seen before.If it even is a language.Seonghwa’s not sure, half the time it just looks like a string of numbers or boxes.There are a lot of circles and rods.But it’s written in a slanted sprawling hand that Seonghwa just knows is Hongjoong’s. 

And the more he looks that funny script is all Hongjoong seems to write.He is very good at distinguishing handwriting.It was one of his studies back at the capital since one of his possible duties is to stand witness against forgery.Nowhere can he find an example of Hongjoong writing in the common tongue. 

Setting the papers down he bites his lip.In the end he settles for dividing the pages out between Hongjoong’s writing and those pages legible to him.He does what he can with the latter, organizing it so that multipage documents read smoothly.The other pile he leaves in the center of the desk, using one of Hongjoong’s sparkly rocks as a paperweight. 

The only thing left is the notebook he assisted Hongjoong in retrieving.He drums his fingers against his hip as he eyes it.It’s close to lunch.He’ll just set it with the rest of the Hongjoong pile he decides, standing to fetch it from where it rests on top of the dresser.He picks it up for the second time, paying more attention to the feel of worn leather under his fingers now than he did before when he was in the house of that glass merchant. 

Just as he’s turning to set it on the desk something thumps out on the deck and Seonghwa jumps.The notebook slips from his hands and goes clattering to the floor.Patting at his heart Seonghwa huffs out a breath, embarrassed by his jumpiness even though there is no one around to see it.Who did he think was coming?They are on an airship hundreds of meters off the ground.No one is coming he assures himself leaning down to pick up the notebook.

He pauses when an envelop flutters from it to the floor, knocked free by the fall.Curious Seonghwa picks it up, flipping it over to read the inscription on the front.And freezes because first off it is not in Hongjoong’s unintelligible scrawl and secondly because it is addressed to her Eminency the Water Carp. 

Oh dear. 

Without thinking Seonghwa sets the notebook onto the desk still staring at the address on the letter, wondering how a small time glass merchant ever thought he could correspond with the highest authority in Horizon and the known world. 

Unless he HADN’T been acquainted with her radiance but had gambled on his information being important enough to get him through anyway? 

Either way Hongjoong needs to see this. 

Completely focused on the letter in his hands he pushes the door open.And freezes.Hongjoong and Jongho are on the deck and Seonghwa is so glad they haven’t heard him. 

Jongho is on his knees, head bowed and bangs hanging forward, soaked with sweat.Hongjoong’s calf disappears between the boy’s spread legs, the toe of his boot just visible at the curl of Jongho’s stomach leaving little doubt as to where the rest of it is. Or what it’s doing. 

Hongjoong leans forward bringing more of his weight to bear on the boy beneath him and Jongho’s mouth drops open though no sound comes out.His shoulders hunch up and his fingers dig deeper into where they rest on his thighs.It’s almost a grimace and Seonghwa has the fleeting thought of running out onto the deck to stop it.But then Hongjoong rocks back onto his off foot and Jongho’s hips stutter to follow him.The boy looks up, flushed and sweating in the merciless noonday sun.His face is soft, his mouth lax and above him Hongjoong grins. 

Seonghwa feels the breath leave him as if he has been punched.His captain is too bright to look at.Seonghwa traces the delicate curve of his cheek to where it meets his mouth, he can’t help himself.Hongjoong is life and fire and the sun before twilight, his wheat straw hair curling around his ears like plumes of sand rising up to touch the sky.His eyes glint with satisfaction at every role of Jongho’s hips he wrings from the boy and Seonghwa want’s that focus, that attention on himself if just for a moment.Just to prove that he was real, that he existed. 

It’s that thought that brings him back to his senses.Flushing redder then he has since he was seven and told to strip naked for the proctors to examine he ducks back inside, carefully swinging the door shut behind himself. 

Absently he flicks the letter back and forth in his fingers, the anxiety over its contents mixing like oil and water with the blood rushing in his veins.His empty stomach roils.Silently, as if worried he will disrupt what is happening on deck if he is heard he picks his way back around the desk and lowers himself carefully into Hongjoong’s chair.It doesn’t smell like the captain, it isn’t even that he has seen Hongjoong sitting in it very much over the last few days.But he can imagine Hongjoong here in this space and that is both a comfort and a curse.Seonghwa had been looking for a place that would hold him for these last few moons.He hadn’t expected nor wanted to find one that he actually liked. 

‘There is still time’ he assures himself.‘You still have time.Just remember what’s yours and what isn’t and everything will be fine’ he tells himself strictly.It still doesn’t stop him from curling up on the captain’s chair and breathing deep.He does not mean to fall asleep.His posture is horrible and it is the middle of the day but sleep he does. 

The letter sits on the desk, waiting till later.

Jongho’s shirt is stuck to his chest with sweat, the rough material opaque and slicked to his curves confirming that, yes, the kid has abs.He’s gonna need a rest after this Hongjoong thinks absently toeing at the inside of the boy’s thigh just to watch him jump helplessly and then be grumpy with himself for the reaction.It’s great fun and Hongjoong is considering another round in the engine room himself after he’s finished here.His fantasies are going to be that much better now that he knows the precise angle that sweat takes when it tracks down Jongho’s jaw, the exact shade of mahogany brown his hair turns when it glistens in the sun.

He hadn’t intended for things to get this far, he really hadn’t but when he’d made to take his foot back Jongho had grabbed his ankle with both hands and growled at him to finish what he’d started.After establishing that Jongho’s hands belonged nowhere but digging into the meat of his own thighs Hongjoong had given in.Who was he to punish such good behavior.Positive reinforcement would no doubt get him farther with Jongho than any punishment. 

There’s no sign of the tears he imagined earlier while touching himself but that’s ok, they can build up to it.Hongjoong smirks, Jongho’s not going to last long this time at all.As if in answer the boy’s jaw tightens, his head tipping back.A high pitched whine makes it out from between his clenched teeth as his muscles snap taught.It’s a hair-razing sound, sending goosebumps racing down Hongjoong’s spine in anticipation of hearing it again.He hums in response, moving his toe in lazy circles until the boy is completely spent, slumping back to spill bonelessly onto the deck. 

The rail behind him is the only thing keeping him up, even Jongho’s eyes are threatening to close as he peers up at Hongjoong through his fluttering lashes.Cute… Hongjoong grins crouching down, both feet back on the deck so he can get up close in the kid’s face.Jongho is still trying to glare at him bless the darling but it’s not really effective since Hongjoong knows there’s a mess in the kid’s pants and about as much power in his prodigious muscles as a rope made out of reeds. 

Lifting his black, wide-rimmed hat from where it hangs down his back he mashes it onto Jongho’s head relishing the indignant squeal and powerless hands batting at his chest it gets him. “Now you know what happens when yur good let’s get you off the deck.You can sleep off your sun sickness for the afternoon.”He says sliding an arm around the kid and hoisting him to his feet. 

Jongho hangs off Hongjoong’s smaller frame, tripping over his own feet as they make their way into the cool dark below deck.Hongjoong dumps the kid on the bunk he’s claimed and stalks off to the mess to grab him water and a plate of food. 

He leaves the food on the floor nearby, shoving the water into the kid’s hand, watching as he takes a long drink.Can’t have the boy dying on him, especially not right after he’s gotten him off.Oh yes I drive my crew to death by orgasm under the hot hot sun!Hongjoong thinks rolling his eyes as he imagines telling Hwaseong.The consort would kill him. 

Jongho watches him, Hongjoong’s hat squished back onto his neck, the rim of his glass digging into his pouty lower lip.His eyes are focused and tracking.He’s holding the cup under his own power now.Hongjoong’s sure he’ll be fine. 

“Eat your lunch.”He instructs turning to leave the kid to whatever combination of satisfaction or shame he decides to express but pauses after a few steps, turning back with lazy eyes.“And clean yourself up!”He scolds, biting his lip to hold back his laughter. 

The rag from his back pocket slaps into the beam of the bed above Jongho’s before falling to land square in the boy’s lap.The same rag that Hongjoong had used to clean the cum off his hands after his own exertions in the engine room. 

What Jongho doesn’t know won’t hurt him. 

Hongjoong contains himself until he enters the mess and then breaks down in hysterical giggles.He feels good.He feels GREAT he realizes wheezing into the cool wood of the wall between the mess and the crew quarters.He’s just put his foot all over another person’s crotch and he’d WANTED to.Jongho had LIKED it.Hongjoong rolls to his back, head thumping into the wall as his laughter winds down into coughs and chuckles. 

He’s not alone on the Mirage any more.And it’s good.He’ll have to get MORE crew now won’t he?

The scrape of the door being shouldered open wakes him.Jolting in the captain’s chair Seonghwa blinks around the room in disorientation. 

“Are you trying to diet?”Hongjoong huffs pushing his way into the captain’s cabin, a plate of food in each hand. 

Ah, he has missed lunch.The shadows on the deck mean this meal can now only be called supper. 

Unloading the plates onto the desk Hongjoong pauses, leaning forward to get a better look at him.Seonghwa instinctively leans back.His face feels puffy, his body stiff.This is why he dislikes napping during the day he thinks distantly rubbing the crust from his eyes unmindful of the mess it’s making of his kohl. 

Across from him Hongjoong makes a soft sound and there is the scrape of a chair.The next time Seonghwa looks the captain has seated himself in the chair on the far side of the desk, chin propped in his fist as he watches him.It’s the reverse of where they sat that first day and Seonghwa’s brain refuses to make sense of the odd image. 

“You fall asleep?”Hongjoong drawls playfully, chin bouncing in his hand when he speaks.Seonghwa manages to get out a polite ‘yes’ without slurring though his eyes are still refusing to focus.“Cuuuute~”The captain sings and he’s sure Hongjoong is smirking as he picks up a fork to stab at his food. 

Before he can think about it Seonghwa’s hand has shot out, his limbs not yet back under his control, and slapped the fork and Hongjoong’s hand both, back onto the desk.The captain’s skin is soft and warm under Seonghwa’s own, his brain catching up to the touch only after he’s clumsily pulled his hand away.

“No, switch.”He mumbles, rising from the captain’s chair. 

“What?”Hongjoong giggles making no move to get up even when Seonghwa makes it around the desk to loom over him. 

“Wrong chair.”He says and is rewarded by another giggle from the captain. 

“Is it weird?” He asks and yes,

“It is weird.”Seonghwa says, immediately regretting his sleep addled words. 

“But you just slept in it for hours.And you sat in it when Jongho got here.”Hongjoong teases, smiling up at him, the curves of his cheeks hitting the ends of his lips.He must be teasing, he must be Seonghwa thinks, brow furrowing. 

“It’s weird now you’re over here.”He grumbles and oh he’s being most impolite slurring his words but he can’t think over the rumble of his stomach.Hongjoong glances down at the noise grinning before finally surrendering Seonghwa his seat.Smoothing the wrinkles in his robe form his bad sleeping posture Seonghwa sits, his stomach growling again as he waits for Hongjoong to be seated before picking up his fork. 

“You ARE on a diet.”The captain grins around his own mouthful at the pause.Seonghwa sends him a withering look but doesn’t deign to reply.HE’S not about to talk with his mouth full.As expected Hongjoong isn’t phased by it in the slightest, sniggering into his dinner. 

“You seem to be in a good mood.”Seonghwa says after swallowing pointedly. 

“It’s been a good day.”Hongjoong grins around his glass. 

A good day?Seonghwa is just about to ask what’s made it better than the others he has been present for but freezes.The image of Jongho on his knees on the deck flashes before his eyes, Hongjoong leaning over him looking hot and hungry.Clearing his throat he picks up his own glass to hold in front of his face.Right, that’s why it was a good day he thinks, cool water sliding down his throat.It does nothing for the burn in his ears. 

“Actually I wanted to ask if you had a preference where we put down anchor next.I’ve got the same prospects in Sunrise or Promise so it doesn’t really matter to me.”Hongjoong says AFTER swallowing this time and Seonghwa is so proud even if he can’t yet bring himself to look the captain in the face. 

He considers how to answer while he chews. 

They’ve made a few stops in small outposts over the last week.None of them big enough to have a client able to commission Seonghwa.They are south of Horizon having worked down across the desert from the north, swinging wide of Declaration which Seonghwa is secretly grateful for.The two great cities to the south are Sunrise in the east or Promise if they keep on course going south.And yes, Seonghwa defiantly has an opinion he just hasn’t been sure how to bring it up to his captain.After the night of Jongho’s arrival he’d been… nervous to ask. 

“Promise.”He says after moment.“My sponsor has made some introductions in the shipping industry for me there in the past.”He says eyes on his plate as he takes another bite.He also has an in with the water council in Sunrise but that is neither here nor there.There IS another reason he’d like to go to Promise instead of Sunrise.And he WILL tell Hongjoong about Yeosang.Soon.He’s just not sure HOW yet.

There’s also something else he needs to talk to Hongjoong about.But it’s not Yeosang’s disappearance or Jongho on his knees on the deck.Furrowing his brows he tries to remember what it is that’s nagging at him if it’s not either of those things.His eyes land on the corner of the envelope sticking out from under Hongjoong’s plate. 

Oh right, the letter. 

The letter addressed to the revered Lady Water Carp. 

Reaching forward he gently eases the paper free.Hongjoong watches and Seonghwa chances a glance at his face.In light of the seriousness of the situation he will endeavor to put his embarrassment over Hongjoong and Jongho’s activities aside.Plate clean he moves it away and smooths the letter on the desktop. 

“I did not mean to pry.”He starts and Hongjoong immediately comes alert in that reverse way he has where instead of sitting up he goes loose, sprawling back in his seat.He raises a brow and Seonghwa struggles to hold his gaze as he pushes the letter across the desk to him. 

“This slipped out of your- the notebook we retrieved from the glass merchant.I dropped it.”He winces at the admission but Hongjoong doesn’t seem worried about the mistreatment of his property, no matter that he has killed a man over it only a week prior. 

Glancing down at the paper the captain’s face remains blank. 

“In light of who it is addressed to I thought it might be important.”Seonghwa finishes, refolding his hands in his lap. 

Hongjoong’s face remains impossible to read as he stares down at the small white rectangle.After a moment he pushes it back across the desk to Seonghwa, face relaxed and eyes dark with smudged kohl. 

“Read it to me.”He says and Seonghwa starts, mouth opening and closing.This was not what he was expecting and for a moment he flounders in the shallows trying to find something to say. 

“I— I could not presume— Hongjoong— Captain this letter is no doubt about something in your personal notebook.That you have information that Her Eminence the Water Carp might be interested in, I would never ask you to include me in that.”He finally manages, unable to conceal his surprise and yes, dismay. 

“As a government sponsored consort I want your opinion.”The pirate captain says.“You aren’t going to tell anyone.”He adds a moment later and Seonghwa huffs. 

“Hongjoong,”If they are really going to be talking about this he want’s to be on equal footing with the captain.“I am technically EMPLOYED by the Water Carp.”He says.“I am obligated to inform her or my superiors of anything she has expressed interest in.”He holds the Pirate King’s stare, hoping he’s made clear what kind of situation Hongjoong is putting him in. 

The captain roles his jaw, eyes dark as they hold Seonghwa’s own.“Are you going to tell them I’m the Pirate King?”He asks after a moment. 

“No?”Seonghwa’s answer comes immediately his nose scrunching up in confusion. 

“Then why is this different?”Hongjoong presses and Seonghwa blinks. 

‘Because no one will believe me if I go around saying you’re the Pirate King’ he thinks but DOES NOT say.Looking down at the letter Seonghwa frowns.This is gong to get him in so much trouble he just knows it. 

You’re already in trouble he thinks. 

His stomach roils as he tears the letter open.Hongjoong leans his elbows on the desk as Seonghwa reads. 

“Greeting to Her Radiant Highness the Lady Water Carp, long may she reign and bring green to our land.”There are a number of other fawning formalities which Seonghwa skims because really?“I am honored and delighted to inform you I have in my possession a …remnant of the butterfly wing?” 

Seonghwa pauses unsure if that is correct.What is a butterfly?A remnant of what?But quickly continues not wanting Hongjoong to pick up on his confusion.

“It is my hope to deliver this treasure to you.I will be arriving in Horizon at the start of the Precious Moon. I send this letter on ahead of me in the hope that it finds you well and that we may both find mutual benefit from this monumental discovery.

“Signed, Chris, glass merchant of the confederacy.”

Lowering the paper into his lap Seonghwa looks too Hongjoong.The captain is still seated at the desk leaning forward to rest his mouth against his knuckles. 

“I see.”He says after a moment, his lips brushing against his laced fingers.“Thank you Hwaseong.” 

He holds his hand out for the letter and Seonghwa gives it to him.Without glancing at it Hongjoong folds the paper back into its envelop as he stands.Picking up the notebook it had come from he slides the letter back between the pages and sets it back down. 

“Give me your plate so I can wash up.”He says and Seonghwa blinks.That’s it?He’s not required to say anything?He distinctly remembers Hongjoong saying something about wanting to know Seonghwa’s opinion about the letter and now he doesn’t care? 

Seonghwa hands over his empty plate on autopilot and hefting the dirty dishes Hongjoong shoulders his way out the door just as he came. 

That’s not to say Seonghwa isn’t grateful for not having to give an opinion, considering he has none.So maybe the captain’s silence is really a blessing in disguise.But then why have him read it at all?Seonghwa looks at the papers written in desert script and how few of them there are.He looks down at the other language and wonders…

**2 Days Ago**

“There is something else I was hoping to do while in Promise.”He says and Hongjoong leans back in his chair, hands folded across his lap.“I would like to look for someone.”Seonghwa breaths and Hongjoong lifts a brow.“A… former consort trainee who I was well accounted with.”He continues. 

It’s not that he doesn’t WANT to be honest with Hongjoong about this.It’s just… He’s still not entirely sure what happened.“I lost contact with him two moons ago and I am concerned about his whereabouts.”He settles on. 

In his chair Hongjoong props his head up with a fist, giving a nod for him to continue.He has no doubt picked up on Seonghwa’s trouble explaining which he is eternally grateful for.The last thing Seonghwa wants is for this to spark another misunderstanding between them when the last one is just being put to rest. 

“This have anything to do with why yur on my ship?”Hongjoong drawls and Seonghwa freezes.He expected the captain to pick up on a lot, just not this much.Again, he flounders unsure how to answer.It’s not why Seonghwa is here, not really.Except it is.Seognhwa’s problems all seem to weave together like one tangled ball of yarn. 

“Yes.”He says because it is NEVER his intention to lie.He may not know how to tell the truth but that will never make it ok to lie.Promise has just become visible on the horizon and he needs to tell Hongjoong SOMETHING. 

It’s early, the sun just beginning to crest over the dunes and Seonghwa has been up for some time.Hongjoong isn’t prone to sleeping in either but he tends to stay up later than Seonghwa, pouring over maps that Seonghwa folds up and puts away in the morning.He hasn’t found an opportunity to find out if his theory from the day of the letter is true.‘I see you like maps Hongjoong, could you perchance tell me what the name of this city is?’No he can’t say that.He needs to find a more subtle way of asking the captain if he can read. 

And even then chances are the answer will be yes.Because obviously Hongjoong CAN read his scratchy alien script so it wouldn’t even be a lie.Seonghwa still has no idea where the language comes from.Not once has he come across it in his studies and Seonghwa has studied all the regional dialects there are in the known city states. 

If you want to get technical there ISN’T another language in use ANYWHERE right now though there are records of them if you go far enough back in the archives to when the desert was host to roaming bands of nomads instead of established oasis cities.Even then, Seonghwa has seen examples of all of them and Hongjoong’s is still an outlier.It could be a code, Seonghwa has considered it, but not even the shapes match the alphabet.And if it WAS code then it would be based off the dessert script which it is not.

“Sooo let me get this straight,”Hongjoong’s voice draws him out of his musings and back to the problem at hand.“This friend of yours isn’t a consort?”He asks. 

“No.”Seonghwa shakes his head trying to come up with how to explain Yeosang’s need to be everything yet nothing all at once.“He left the program to pursue other goals.”He decides to say diplomatically.“He’s more of a ...scientist?”There really is no way to accurately describe Yeosang.“He was interested in the Horizon band.”He offers hoping that this explanation will be enough for his captain. 

He leaves out that Yeosang had left the consort program on his own authority and therefore was not on good terms with the government.At all.Not that he thought that would affect Hongjoong’s stance on the matter.No.But because what Yeosang did was Yeosang’s business and no one else’s.Until of course Yeosang’s business had him falling off the face of the earth leaving Seonghwa to pick up the pieces.Then Yeosang’s business BECAME Seonghwa’s business. 

“You believe he’s in Promise?”Hongjoong asks, head tilted, considering. 

“No.Or, well, not anymore.”Seonghwa clarifies.“His last correspondence conveyed his intent to travel there.”He says and Hongjoong nods. 

“But to your knowledge he never arrived?”He asks and unfortunately Seonghwa has no answer. 

“I don’t know.”He admits feeling helpless but looks his captain in the eye anyway.“But I’d like to find out.I would pay generously if you could make a few enquiries.”He says holding the Pirate King’s stare. 

Hongjoong shifts, running a thumb along his plush lower lip, eyes on Seonghwa sharp as a hawk.“I was under the impression you were a bit short on funds Hwaseong.”He says and Seonghwa flushes. 

“I— I assure you I have enough to make it worth your time.”He splutters in leu of discussing his financial situation with Hongjoong. 

“I’m sure you do.”The captain grins, all of his lovely white teeth coming out to play and Seonghwa wishes he could melt through the deck and meet his death on the 200 meter drop to the sands. 

It has been a struggle to keep thoughts of Hongjoong at bay the last few days.Seonghwa hasn’t walked in on him and Jongho in anymore compromising situations thank the clouds in the sky but neither has he been able to get the captain’s dark eyes out of his dreams.It’s quite embarrassing honestly. 

He’s not sure what kind of ridiculous face he is making but Hongjoong backs off chuckling.“Relax it’s no trouble to ask around.If I find anything then we can renegotiate.”He says and Seonghwa is grateful. 

“Thank you.”He says, shoulders loosening and he dips his head to Hongjoong from his chair.It truly is a weight off his back. “I will be making rounds of my own once we arrive.I already have a client interested in my services so I will be disembarking tomorrow morning.”He says and Hongjoong hums. 

“We should be arriving this evening so that’s no trouble.”He agrees.“When will you be back?” 

“I will be witnessing the signing of some trade agreements for the shipping minister.He is no doubt looking to have me to dinner afterwards and entertain me the following day.From there it’s very possible I will be commissioned by one of his business partners for further services.I would like to take a few jobs while we are here but I will come back to the ship for a night in-between each.” 

Seonghwa has thought about it and this compromise seems reasonable.It wouldn’t do to impose on his hosts for the entirety of his stay.That would make him look dependent and no consort should ever look dependent on their clients. 

“I see.”Hongjoong nods, sitting back and the topic of Yeosang is shelved until two days later.

**The Present**

The shipping minister of Promise lives in a very nice house.Not as big as the glass merchant’s mansion in Han but then not everyone feels the need to build things in proportion to their ego Hongjoong thinks dryly.He’s standing across the street from the building the locals had happily given him directions to, leaning against an unlit lamppost.The sun still hangs in the sky, skimming the roofs of the houses on the west side of the street.Around him the docks are still busy and he finds it a point in this shipping minister’s favor that he prefers to live so close to his livelihood. 

Hwaseong should be back at the ship tonight.That had been the plan when they had parted ways yesterday.So Hongjoong is waiting for him, unsure exactly when he’ll be free to go.They HADN’T talked about this Hongjoong picking him up business but after running into Mingi at the tavern over lunch Hongjoong had decided he’d rather talk to the consort sooner rather than later.He buys a flatbread from a crier on the street and settles in to wait with his dinner. 

The sun is half behind the houses, painting the clay roofs a deep crimson when Hwaseong exits the building.There is another long minute of bowing and scrapping on the doorstep before the consort is free.Turning to the street as he pulls his head scarf across his face leaving only his sharp eyes to look out through the slit.It’s obvious immediately when they land on Hongjoong because they narrow, Hwaseong otherwise giving nothing away.Hongjoong waves the bread rind at him, still leaning against his lamppost.Arms folded delicately under his outer robe Hwaseong walks across the street towards him. 

“Hongjoong.”He says once he arrives lowering his eyes and dipping his head, making his outer robe flutter around him.And Hongjoong lets the use of his name slide since this is obviously ‘consort Hwaseong’ and not ‘passenger on his ship Hwaseong’ so in this moment Hongjoong doesn’t mind being his equal. 

“Consort~”He smiles back around a mouthful of bread.From under the fabric he swears he can hear Hwaseong huff.He’s still too in control to role his eyes like Hongjoong knows he wants to and his grin sharpens at that. 

“What are you doing here?”Hwaseong finally breaks down to ask. 

“Gonna walk you home.”Hongjoong chirps shoving the rest of the bread into his face and masticating it with his back teeth.Hwaseong’s eyes narrow further and he has to turn away to avoid spraying the consort with crumbs when he laughs. 

“Hongjoong.”Hwaseong says flatly once he’s able to turn back.“What’s wrong?Did something happen?”He’s clearly concerned, able to convey the emotion with just his eyes which is WOW. 

“No!”Hongjoong squawks under the scrutiny.“Nothing is wrong!”Which isn’t a lie just a stretch because what IS he going to do about Mingi?Heavens preserve him.“Can’t I just be a good captain and walk you back?It’s getting late.”He shrugs hands in his pockets and Hwaseong sighs though if Hongjoong is reading those eyes right he’s more amused than exasperated. 

“It is getting late.Come my captain, let’s go.”He hums and oh… Hongjoong would pay a lot to be able to see Hwaseong’s face right now.My captain?Really?By the rains in the east yes please.Instead he offers his arm as he’d seen the Don do years ago when he’d had special guests.Hwaseong huffs more noticeably this time, adjusting it until he’s satisfied, which yeah, it’s been a long time, Hongjoong wouldn’t be surprised if he’s got it all wrong.Tucking his hand into Hongjoong’s elbow they head off down the street. 

“In all honesty what happened?”Hwaseong asks again once they’re moving and they’ve both checked that there’s no one following them.Hongjoong sighs letting his neck flop dramatically to the side as he considers his day. 

“I may have found a lead on your not-a-consort friend.”He says righting himself. 

“Already?!”Hwaseong’s voce hitches behind his flimsy face cloth and Hongjoong is torn between feeling smug and wondering if the rains hate him. 

“Ugh don’t remind me.”He settles on which earns him a look from the pretty consort on his arm. 

“Ok, WHAT happened?”Hwaseong demands and Hongjoong sighs putting away the theatrics so he can properly explain. 

“I ran into a scientist who’s studying rocks.”He says.“I didn’t get a chance to throw out Yeosang’s name but if he really was studying the Horizon Band like you say ‘studying rocks’ is the logical cover story.Promise is built over the only vein of the stuff outside of the ACTUAL band.It’s probably why your guy was coming here in the first place.” 

Hwaseong is looking at him funny by the time he finishes so he cocks a brow. 

“There’s a deposit of Horizon stone under Promise?”The consort asks obviously skeptical.“How do YOU know this?” 

Hongjoong makes a face.“Because of my mystical Pirate King powers.”He says knowing it’s dumb.Wondering if Hwaseong will call him on it. 

The consort blinks, long lashes fluttering against veiled cheekbones and its the most difficulty Hongjoong has had figuring out what he’s thinking yet.After a beat he sighs.“All right.”Hwaseong says and Hongjoong is both disappointed and grateful he’s not pushing it. 

“So what’s next?”He asks and ugh, Hongjoong doesn’t want to think about it.“I’ve got a meeting with the guy tomorrow morning at the skiff outpost to the west.I was… wondering if you’d like to be there.”He finishes, grumbling. 

Hwaseong side-eyes him again.“It doesn’t sound like you want me there.”He huffs and Hongjoong wilts at the sound. 

“Noooo I want you to come.”He whines and Hwaseong shoots him another unimpressed look.“It’s just… there’s another guy coming who I don’t want you to meet.But I might have to tie him up and drag him back to the ship anyway so I guess you SHOULD meet him.”He grumbles pouting. 

Hwaseong’s eyes now look amused and again he wishes he could see the consort’s whole face because he bets the man is smiling and he’s always so pretty when he does that. 

“Is it a friend?”Hwaseong asks, DEFINITELY smiling now. 

“No he is not!”Hongjoong squawks.


End file.
